We've Got The Routine
by inactive account cries
Summary: So then one day, this weird boy, a dog, and a duck fell from the sky and changed the fate of our world. But that's okay, they do it all the time. KH/Harry Potter X-over
1. No Luck

Nutso has brought you another Kingdom Hearts fanfic, only this time, with Harry Potter thrown into the mix!

"But, Nutso," you cry, "there are already millions of Harry Potter crossovers out there!" Well, my friends, there isn't a lot crossed over with KH, and none of them particularly fine quality. Thus, I humbly make my own offer.

BTW, this is the first fic my new Beta is a part of. Send some love to Digital Skitty. =D

Enjoy!

~|\/|~

Sora moaned in exasperation and sagged his head back against the headrest.

"Is there another one on the map _now?"_

Donald paused in his typing at the controls- an ability he had which confused Sora to no end- and turned irritably to look at him.

_"No, _Sora, we haven't sighted it yet. Just be _patient," _he quacked, feathery brow furrowed.

"Merlin said it was quite a flight from the castle to find it, a-hyuck!" Goofy chimed in. "I'm sure we're gettin' close now, though."

Sora groaned and slouched further down into his seat, wrinkling his clothes up. "But we've been flying for _hours... _and we don't even know if this world's really in trouble or not!"

It was quite clear to Donald and Goofy that Sora would remain argumentative no matter what they said, and so they remained silent.

Earlier that day, they had been summoned out of the middle of a battle in Agrabah into Disney Castle, where Merlin was waiting. He had explained to them that while he was going over the records of the different worlds in the King's library, he had unearthed a few documentations of a certain world.

"This world," he had said, "is in great danger of being taken over by Heartless. There are already corrupt and evil beings that have tried to rule it in the past, and according to the records, it is currently heading towards a war. That is the exact type of conflict the Heartless are after."

The trio had been quite alarmed, and asked why they hadn't been sent after it yet. Sora was halfway ready to make a run for the King's Gummi garage when Merlin's next words stopped him.

"The peculiar thing is that we haven't found any new traces of Heartless in that world's area. Despite the weak state their world is in, they haven't been overrun yet."

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Donald had asked rather snappishly, eager to go check the world out.

Merlin had sighed and groped about for a chair to sit down in. "I believe... that in order for this world to have not been taken over yet, one of two things must be true: either the world and its people have very strong hearts despite the unrest, or there is something more dangerous there keeping the Heartless away." He paused, and stared at the trio meaningfully.

It took them a few moments to get it, but when they did, it hit them like a ton of bricks.

"You mean... Organization XIII?!"

~|\/|~

So now, the three of them were soaring through space, looking for the as of yet unnamed world, and hoping that if there _was _anything there, it would be Heartless not Nobodies. Of course, the hero part of Sora was excited to be going to possibly save another world, but the average teenage part of him was just annoyed it was taking so long for them to find it.

He mumbled to himself, kicking one leg out and swinging it back and forth. After having gone through all the adrenaline-filled clashes of power _he _had, it was quite easy to get him bored. His amazement meter just wasn't what it used to be.

...not that _anyone _would find sitting in a rubbery aircraft and watching blobs of bluish-green... _junk _go by for hours on end remotely amusing.

He looked over at Goofy hopefully. "Hey... could I maybe fly it for a while?" he asked, pulling up the sweetest face he could muster.

Goofy looked a bit pitying, and perhaps would have agreed, had Donald not opened his bill angrily right then.

"Absolutely not, Sora. You're hardly computer savvy, and we don't need this thing crashing again," he quacked, still tapping away.

Sora sat straight up in indignation. _"Donald! _That was nearly _two years ago, _and besides, it was your fault too!"

The large, anthropomorphic duck looked away from the colourful flashing screen and scowled at Sora. "It was not."

"Was _too!"_

"You're delusional."

"Why you-"

Sora was cut off by Goofy's excited exclamation of "Look, fellas! I think we found our world!"

They both turned and peered out the front of the cockpit's window.

They were flying towards a giant bluish-black sphere, and they could see pinpricks of light shining through the darkness here and there.

"Whoah... sure is big..." Sora murmured. And it was. Sans The World That Never Was, it was the biggest world they'd come across so far.

"D'ya think there's somethin' wrong with it?" Goofy asked. "It's covered in black, just like Hollow Bastion was when the Heartless army was there."

Sora looked harder. "...No, I don't think so," he finally said. "With Hollow Bastion, it was like somebody covered the light with darkness, but here... it's just like, the dark is mixed in with the light."

Donald huffed. "Well, we're not going to figure out _anything _if we just hover here and stare. Let's go land already!"

"You got it!" Goofy turned the joystick, and they zoomed along the surface of the world's atmosphere, looking for a place to land.

"There's a bunch of blank space there, Goofy," Sora said and pointed to what looked like a field. He stared out the window at the vast blackness, seemingly lost in thought.

Goofy grinned, nodded, and turned the ship in for a dive.

They passed through the thin cloud layer with little trouble, but then encountered a problem.

"Uhh... guys..." Donald brought Sora out of his reverie. "There's something wrong with the controls..."

Sora peeked over at the screen Donald was commanding. It was flashing bright red instead of the usual multicoloured arrangement, and the buttons pad was emmiting tiny hisses and sparks.

Sora's eyes widened, and he stood up out of his seat. "What the heck is-"

"HEEEEEEEEELP!"

Both their heads snapped around to look at Goofy, but only for a split second, before the ship gave a violent swerve and they were thrown onto the floor.

"Goofy!" "What did you do that for?"

But it clearly hadn't been Goofy's doing. The humanoid dog was panicking, trying to right the ship, but it seemed nothing was happening. "The joystick won't work! It's not lettin' me steer!" he cried, checking hurriedly for any signs of a jam or other malfunction.

Then, the Gummi ship seemed to give a sigh, and all the lights went out.

All was silent for a moment.

"G-guys?" Sora's shaken voice came. "What's happening to the ship?"

He felt Donald's hand... wing touch his arm reassuringly. "I don't know, but we'll figure it- WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!"

The ship had remained stationary in the air for a few moments, then, in the middle of Donald's sentence, it had dropped straight down.

"We're going- to blow up- and die!" Sora screamed.

He heard Goofy yelling back to him. "No- the ship's- made of gummi- we'll only-"

Then, they came to an abrupt stop. The Gummi ship hit the ground with a crash that jarred Sora's brain, and he knew no more.

~|\/|~

"...so 'e's gripin' and complainin' about 'ow 'is wife is always botherin' 'im for money, and so _I _says, "Well, wot's she gonna do with it?" And the bloke looks at me and 'e says: "'ow should I know, I never give 'er any!"

Mundungus leaned back, howling with laughter at his own tale, as did the twins, Ron, and Charlie. Mr. Weasley struggled to keep from bursting out laughing in front of his wife, who only looked slightly bemused. Everyone else was too busy with their own conversations to bother.

Harry leaned back his chair, and saw Hermione shaking her head to his right. "Honestly, some people nowadays..."

He grinned. "Well, not everyone has impeccable morals and manners like you, 'Mione." He saw Ron nodding at her from his other side. "True, that."

Hermione's undoubtedly sharp-witted retort was cut off by Lupin standing up at the other end of the table and clearing his throat loudly. "If I could have everyone's attention, please..."

He was met with almost immediate silence.

"Er... thank you. Now, as I'm sure you have all realised, we are not in a very good position at the moment. I'm sure you have all been reading the papers, and know of the Ministry's continued neglect of our claims to Voldemort's return to power. This is nothing new."

Harry scowled; mentions of the Ministry and their idiocy tended to aggravate him these days.

"However... it seems we may have a new problem on our hands. Have any of you payed any attention to the Muggle news of late?"

The various witches and wizards looked around at each other, hoping for someone to nod in confirmation. After a few moments, Hermione sighed. "Yes, Profe- Remus. Are you referring to the sightings of odd... erm... _animals _that there has been such a confusion about?"

Harry turned to her in interest. "Animals? What are you talking about, Hermione?"

Lupin nodded at Hermione. "That is precisely what I am talking about. Arthur, surely they've mentioned something like it at the Ministry?"

Mr. Weasley rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well... you know how difficult it is to get word of _anything _'round there nowadays... I do recall mutterings of Muggle unrest, however."

"Remus," Bill spoke up, "if they're becoming a problem for the Muggles, then why haven't they affected the Wizarding community yet?"

"We're not sure," Lupin spoke tiredly. "But... we believe it is only-"

He was cut off by a screech of metal coming from outside.

The people at the table jumped up immediately. "What the bloody hell was _that?" _barked Ron, colour drained from his face.

"Guys, look out the window!" Ginny yelled, pointing at a glowing orangey-yellow... block... _blob _that was raining down from the sky towards the Weasleys' vast backyard. Faintly, they could hear voices screaming.

"It's going to crash!" Harry shouted, tearing open the back door and running outside. "Harry- wait, _don't!" _He was closely followed by Ron and Hermione.

They stood at the edge of the front field, bracing for the impending explosion. "Isn't there some spell that can _stop _it?" Ron cried. "If anyone's in there, they're gonna die!"

Hermione was almost in tears from the panic. "I- I don't know any, magic doesn't work with technology, so there might not be one to stop a plane from falling!"

Harry squinted through the dark at the falling object. "Hermione... I don't think that's a pla-"

Then, the object hit the ground. The three friends screamed, and could vaguely hear the rest of the party running towards them.

~|\/|~

Harry opened his eyes slowly, confused about the lack of an explosion. Eyes scrunched, he tried to make out the blurry blockish object that had landed not a hundred metres from where they were standing.

He heard a gasp of, "Oh, my God-" and felt someone go past him. A split second later, he was following.

Bill and Mr. Weasley were prowling tensely around the side of the plane-like object, trying to find a door. As Mr. Weasley spotted what vaguely looked like a sealed opening, Harry stole up to the device and, after a moment of thinking, laid his hand against it.

_"Harry! _Don't touch it-" Hermione rushed to his side, throwing her own hand out warningly, but he cut her off. "It's fine... feel it, it's cold." And not only that, it certainly didn't feel like metal.

"What _is _it?" wondered Ron, feeling it as well. "It feels like... _rubber _or something."

"I've got it open!" came Mr. Weasley's excited voice. The group rushed around to where he was standing. Mr. Weasley bent so his front half was inside the craft. "Anyone alive in there?"

Harry came up behind him. "Let me try to get in, Mr. Weasley." Said man pulled his head back out and looked at Harry. "I don't know if that's such a good idea..."

"It's fine, besides, I could probably get through it a lot easier than you- no offense."

Mr. Weasley chuckled and stood back. "None taken. But if you see _anything _questionable, you come right back out, got it?"

Harry nodded in affirmation and crawled up inside the machine.

Everyone waited and held their breaths. Then, they heard a gasp, and sprung forwards. "Harry! You alright?"

"I'm fine, but there's a boy in here... and..."

Ron pounded on the side of the craft. "Spit it out, mate."

"...and a dog and a duck, and they're wearing clothes!"

There was a moment of utter silence.

Fred (or maybe George) spoke through the shock. "Well, whatever it was we _thought _was gonna be in there, I think we've got something ten times stranger."

~|\/|~

We're hoping this fic isn't going to crash and burn, which so easily happens when you're dealing with crossovers. But guess what? You can be a part of the solution! Help it stay on track by leaving comments, complaints, criticisms, and compliments as reviews! No, that's not an order, but it would be nice of you to comply. =D

~The Bad Nut


	2. No Trust

I'm gettin' some good vibes from this fic, I didn't think you people would like it nearly as much as you did. In fact, I was expecting most of the populace to kind of glance at it, get a signal something along the lines of 'meh, another crossover, boring.' I was very pleasantly surprised. =D

Once again, love and sparkles go to Digital Skitty. She's like, at least fifty percent of pulling off this thing.

~|\/|~

Sora groaned lightly as he drifted back into conciousness.

_Where... am I?_

That was the first thought that came to his mind. His back didn't recognize the feel of whatever he was laying on. _This... isn't my bed. _By 'his bed,' he meant the one on the Gummi ship, not the one on...

His brain stopped for a moment. On... what was he about to say?

Another, more urgent thought distracted him from his brain lapse. "...Donald? Goofy? Are you there?" He received no answer, and so he slowly opened his eyes, squinting through the dark, and sat up.

Giving his eyes time to adjust, Sora strained his ears to listen for someone, _anyone. _He wanted to know what had happened. Where was he? Why wasn't he on the Gummi ship?

He pulled the covers of the bed off of him, and swung his legs over the side, resting his feet cautiously on the carpeted floor beneath him. He was still dressed in his normal- or abnormal, depending on who you were talking to- outfit, but someone had taken the care to remove his oversized shoes. He peered around in the dark for them, not comfortable with leaving his shoes in an unknown and potentially dangerous location. They were nowhere to be found.

Sora stood up, reaching out for the nearest wall and fumbling for a lightswitch, but finding none. He sighed. This was beginning to get irritating, and he needed to see. He cupped his hands and whispered, "Fire."

Merlin had taught him and Donald that not all spells had to be used offensively. As long as he concentrated, he could keep the flame in his hands and too small to do damage. Of course, this was impractical still in many situations, as Sora didn't have a particularly spectacular amount of concentration available. Apparently the knowledge wasn't going to go to waste, however.

Sora crept around the room, holding out his right hand as a sort of makeshift flashlight. "C'mon... shoes," he muttered.

A-_ha. _There they were, underneath a chair in the corner. He hurried over, crouched down, and slipped the left one on, and had the right one halfway up his foot-

"Hello? You awake in there?"

Sora whipped around, staring at the door, on which someone was knocking. He held the flame out in front of him, and reached for the doorknob. "Yeah, I'm here..." The door swung open without warning, and the person took a moment to register the fire in his hand before giving a wild shout, then pulling out a stick and yelling some odd gibberish, and suddenly his hand was soaked with water.

He stood there, shocked, his outstretched hand dripping. "Wh... what did you you do that for?" His mouth hung open slightly, and he stared accusingly at her, for it was definately a girl.

She was breathing heavily. "Your hand... it was on fire!"

This didn't make things any clearer to Sora. Obviously, the person had some expercience with magic- water didn't just randomly appear out of nowhere. But then, why had they been alarmed by the fire in his hand?

Sora decided it was best for him not to appear too clueless until he had found out more about this world. He shook his hand off and stuck it forward. "Um, yeah... slight... problem I had, see... um, nice to meet you anyways."

The girl inspected his hand unobtrusively, clearly checking for signs of damage. "Er... pleasure. I'm Hermione Granger."

Sora smiled. At least this Hermione Granger was friendly. "I'm Sora, and this is..." He stopped suddenly, remembering his two friends weren't standing behind him like they always were during introductions on new planets. "Uh... this is an odd occasion, eh?"

The girl, Hermione, seemed to notice his slip, but she didn't say anything, thankfully. "Erm, did you, I mean to say, were you by any chance travelling with some... animals, when you crashed?"

Sora's heart lept when he heard the mention of what could only be Goofy and Donald, and he was so relieved he completely overlooked the mention of a crash that he had obviously undergone. "Yeah, I was! Do you think you could take me to them?" He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, eager to see some familiar faces.

Hermione smiled a bit, stepping back into the hallway and motioning for him to follow. Sora stepped somewhat cautiously out of the room, eyes running over the odd decorations on the walls. A lot of photographs of some red-headed people, and lots of shelves on which various knick-knacks were stored. He inspected them as he followed Hermione down the hallway. Glass globes inside which he could make out some movement, vases of plants that didn't look all that friendly, books with titles he either didn't understand or couldn't read at all... was that snakeskin _moving?_

They stopped at the end of the hallway, and Hermione shot him a rather embarrassed look out of the corner of her eye before speaking to one of the portraits on the wall. "Erm... pumpernickle, sir."

Sora made a funny noise somewhere between a snort and a sharp intake of breath. He saw a twinge of red on the girl's face. "Uh- sorry, I had something stuck in my..." He winced at how obvious the lie sounded. "...sorry."

"No, it _is _stupid," Hermione muttered sheepishly. "We _told _them they didn't have to lock you up here..."

Sora was about to ask who she meant by 'we' and 'they,' when the portrait coughed slightly, and the wall dissolved. He stared in amazement. There was not trace that there had been anything there but stairs.

Hermione had already started down said steps and therefore missed his shock. Sora took a moment to clear his head and then hurried after her.

~|\/|~

A boy with jet-black hair sat off in a corner, scowling heavily at most of the other people in the room. It seemed most of them were too busy arguing with each other to give his dark look a second thought, but darned if he wasn't giving off the largest negative energy any of them had ever felt.

_They're all idiots, _he thought to himself. _Even the ones on my side._

The subject of the argument was currently slumbering away in a room on a hidden floor in the Weasley household. Not but a few hours ago, a colourfully-clothed, spikey-haired boy and what they could only assume were his companions, a strangely humanoid dog and a duck, had come crashing down into the vast fields behind the house. Naturally, this had been a bit of a cause for alarm to everyone present, as Muggle inventions usually couldn't even make it that close to the house _intact, _nevermind the malfunction it had had.

They had puzzled over it for quite some time as they moved the unlucky passengers inside, until Ginny had piped up, "Maybe they're not Muggles _or _wizards."

Harry thought this was a perfectly plausible explanation, albeit still rather confusing, but he did _not _think it was a suggestion that merited almost immediate panic and a flurry to disarm the poor boy and lock him away by himself in the dark. Most of the Weasley children and Hermione shared his sentiments, as did Mrs. Weasley, but the other adult wizards and even Aurors had become suspicious of the odd 'intruders.'

Presently, the group at large was engaged in a violent discussion about what to do when the three newcomers woke up.

"You are being irrational, he's a _child, _Arthur! Barely older than your daughter by the looks of it! I don't _care _how easy _you _think it is for Voldemort to corrupt people to his side, you're not going to keep this poor boy-"

"And how do you explain who he was travelling with, Molly? Animals mutated together with humans, by the looks of it! That's not a concept you could possibly pin on anyone except Voldemort."

Remus stepped up wearily, perhaps to cause a bit of peace between the two. "Arthur, Molly, it would not be fair to make any assumptions until these... visitors have woken up and are able to answer some questions..."

"And what if the first thing one of them does when they wake up is begin to attack everything in sight?" Moody growled from his own corner. "Far better to put them in a less dangerous position than ourselves beforehand."

Mrs. Weasley threw up her hands in exasperation. "Once again, we are _not going to do that to a child."_

"And how do you know that he's a child at all? He could simply be a very thoroughly disguised-"

"Hey, where's Hermione?" came Ron's voice suddenly through the fray.

Conversation paused as the rest of the room's occupants became aware of their missing member. Harry, eyes wide, slowly turned to face the stairs leading off the far wall, on which shadows were flickering down towards them. He could hear Hermione's perfectly articulated speech, and, once or twice, an interjection from a surprisingly soft male voice.

"...a little bit unsure what to do with you, see, so I think they may be..."

Hermione stopped as she reached the bottom of the steps, staring at everyone who was staring at her- or, more specifically, the space behind them.

The boy came creeping down the steps, his oversized yellow shoes back in place. He paused before stepping into the room, looking a bit unsettled by all the shocked and/or suspicious faces peering at him. He looked around, meeting everyone's eyes, and even from a few metres away, Harry was strucken by the boy's eyes... very pretty, like they belonged on a child's face.

The room was tense, waiting to see what he would say.

He looked around awkwardly for another moment, then shifted his weight to lean back slightly, hand scratching the back of his neck. "Uh... hello... I'm Sora. Um... pleased ta meetcha?" he offered, and Harry could practically feel it as everyone's suspicions about him flew down the toilet.

~|\/|~

Sora felt slightly alienated as he looked uncertainly around the room. No one had replied to his introduction. They were all simply... staring. He wondered how out of place he really seemed here. Perhaps he was a bit more colourfully dressed than everyone else present... but these seemed to be fairly average people, like him, so what singled him out?

Then, he remembered the water and the portrait, and decided he needed to stop judging so quickly.

"So..." he began uncomfortably. "Exactly how... long was I out for?"

Hermione, who had already had plenty of time to adjust to him, spoke up. "Around five and a half hours... you must have smacked your head quite hard when it hit."

Sora furrowed his brow, tilting his head to look at her. "When what hit?"

He noticed as everyone exchanged deep glances with each other. "Uh, have I missed something here?"

A man with light brown hair took a half step towards him. "Do you have no recollection of the crash?"

He shook his head in opposition. "No. I just remember Merlin telling us about a new... uh..." He had seen the shock on the faces in front of him when he began that sentence, and he wasn't sure what it was aimed at, but maybe he oughtn't finish his thought. He groped for a different subject.

An image of his friends flashed through his mind. "Oh! Oh, oh crap! Where're Donald and Goofy?" He had completely forgotten about them for the past ten minutes.

Hermione jumped, and smacked her forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sora. Yes, let's get you to them."

She tugged on his shirt sleeve, pulling him through the room and the maze of people in it, and up onto the other set of stairs.

Before he knew it, Harry was following.

~|\/|~

I keep trying tfo write Sora like I would Harry. D= No matter how hot a British Sora would be, I _must not be tempted. _*is thrown to the keep-it-in-character creepers*

C is for Comments, Criticisms, Complaints, Compliments, and Cool. You'll be the last one if you do the first four! 8D

~The Bad Nut


	3. No Lies, Please

Bawwww, I fail so hard. D: I was GOING to keep a strict schedule of one chapter every fortnight... see how well _that _worked out. I swear I'll try harder. D:D:

Also, thank you to those who kindly pointed out my mistakes last chapter... sheeat, I still have to fix those. OMG I _fail. _

Digital Skitty = marvelously splendiferous person/Beta. Treat her as such.

~|\/|~

Harry crept down the long, dark hallway of the Weasleys' cellar, where there was another hidden room in which what they decided were a duck and a dog were. The adults had deemed it necessary to keep Sora as far away from them as possible, which Harry hadn't understood, because if Sora was supposed to be so dangerously unpredictable, shouldn't they have kept his friends where he could see them?

Well, it was too late now. Although, as he eyed the oddly cheerful boy flouncing along before him, he surmised that they probably had had no cause to worry at all in the first place. His ears twitched as they picked up Sora's floaty voice. "So... pleasant bunch of people back there."

Hermione took on a sheepish tone. "Sorry... they're... a little scared of you, I think. They weren't ready to see you come waltzing down the stairs looking like everyone's best friend."

Sora began laughing, a loud, contagious laughter that fit him perfectly, Harry decided. Where on _Earth _did that boy get his energy? If Harry had been unceremoniously half-exploded and shoved into a dark room by himself for hours on end, he doubted he'd be sharing jokes with random slightly ill-intentioned wizards. He was pulled from his musings by Sora's voice again, sounding oddly stronger than before. "Of course I'm dangerous... I just wouldn't hurt anyone unless they _really, really _deserved it." He watched as Hermione's brown mess of hair shifted, and she looked questioningly at Sora, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Anyone can be dangerous if they try hard enough, y'know?"

Hermione said she supposed that was true, and turned abruptly to stop in front of a door. Harry hung back around a corner, not quite sure why he was hiding, but deciding he didn't want it revealed that he had been listening to their conversation.

A creak as the door presumably swung open, and then a shuffling sound. Harry noticed absently that he could only hear Hermione's sharp, decisive steps, and not the large clunking sounds he had thought Sora's gigantic shoes would make.

~|\/|~

Sora couldn't help it, his mood dipped dangerously when he saw Donald and Goofy laying there, looking almost like what they did when Naminé had put them to sleep. He had only seen them for a moment before he, too, was put under the spell, but he didn't like the small bit that he remembered.

He jerked forward, hand reaching out to shake them awake before the similarity got to him. "Donald... Goofy." He bent over, sticking his face next to the irritable duck's, hoping to give him a bit of a humorous shock when he awoke.

But Donald's eyes remained closed.

Sora frowned a bit, then went over and poked Goofy's sensitive nose. When that got no reaction either, he lifted up one of the floppy ears. "Heyyyyy, anybody home in there?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Hermione's eyes were full of concern. "Maybe... you should let them wake when they're ready, Sora."

Sora contemplated for a moment, then shook his spikey head. "No. They gotta be able to wake up at the slightest disturbance... could save our skins some day." Ignoring the girl's look of curiosity, he stood up and made a big show of huffing, crossing him arms, and turning his back on the two animals.

"Well, if you guys won't get up, I guess I'll just have to handle the Gummi ship all by myself!" He raised his eyebrows briefly and said, seemingly to himself, "That'll be... _fun..." _

As if those were the magic words, Donald's eyes snapped open, and Goofy, while his eyes remained shut, sat straight up in the bed. "Oh no you don't, Sora!" "Wait, it requires two people to fly correctly!"

Sora laughed joyfully and spun back around, face crinkling with mirth. "Should've known that was the only thing that would get you two up..."

Donald's indignation and Goofy's confusion were interrupted by a small snort from Hermione, who swiftly covered her mouth and looked worried.

"Wak!" Donald jumped up. "Who's this? Wait, just where the heck are we?!" He got out his wizard's staff and began waving it threateningly in Hermione's direction.

Goofy slid out of the bed too, hunching a little to avoid smacking his head on the low ceiling. "Uh, gawrsh, Donald, ya don't hafta get so worked up so quickly."

Sora held up his hands, trying to calm the firey duck. "No, Donald, it's alright! This is Hermione, she's a friend."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, she had somehow recognized the dangerous potential of Donald's staff, though Sora didn't know how- people usually didn't feel threatened by it upon their first meetings.

"Er... yes, I'm Hermione Granger. I'm awfully sorry that you two had to be seperated from Sora, the adults here are a bit... uptight." She bowed her head shamefully.

Goofy burst into a spout of his odd, gulping laughter. "Aw, ya don't gotta be sorry 'bout it. We woulda done the same thing if we didn't know what a Gummi ship was and one came crashing into our backyard outta nowhere!" He traipsed over to the bushy-haired girl and patted her on the back.

Sora could tell that Donald was about to open his bill to say something contradictory, so he interjected quickly. "Yeah, we've gotten all kinds of welcomes, and plenty worse than this one."

Hermione looked back up, a small smile forming. "How could they have doubted you guys?" She shook her head incredulously, then turned on her heel and started back out the door. "I'm going to go check out how things are back there... hopefully they've figured out you guys aren't here to kill us all by now." She giggled a bit, then was gone.

To Sora, it was pretty obvious that she had found a tactful way to give them some time alone, and he took the chance gratefully.

"So... now that we're here, what are we going to do?"

~|\/|~

Harry contemplated listening in on the odd trio, but he decided to allow someone else their privacy for once, and slipped down the hallway before Hermione could see him.

The usually pleasantly cozy room was again filled with shouting voices as he sidled back into it. Apparently, the argument hadn't changed much, even with the face-to-face meeting they had just had with Sora. For Harry, it had been quite enough to prove the boy harmless... well, maybe not harmless, he thought, remembering that Sora himself had said he was dangerous as if Hermione should have automatically _known_ he was. However, it was quite clear he bore them no ill will, and he seemed like a reasonably trusting person as well.

No one else seemed to share his view on the situation, however, except perhaps Hermione, and Ron, most likely. Fred, George, and Ginny appeared to be convinced that the boy was in fact a simple Muggle, dropping Ginny's previous idea. Mrs. Weasley had been pushed fully into her mother hen mode at the sight of Sora's huge, innocent eyes and boyish looks. Mr. Weasley, Moody, and Bill were completely mistrusting of Sora. Charlie and Mundungus (Harry was still confused as to how he had managed to get invited to this particular dinner) were staying out of it, and Lupin was just trying half-heartedly to find the peace.

Harry decided he'd rather not maim his throat trying to cough and get their attention, and instead siddled up next to Ron, who sighed. "Still going at it."

Harry nodded, shoulders slumping in exasperation. "Hermione'll be here in a second." He saw Ron grin at him crookedly. "You been doing some snooping, Harry?"

He chuckled a bit and nodded at the other boy.

The argument was steadily rising in volume, and Harry was beginning to get a bit annoyed again when there was a very loud, rather angry sound, and everyone turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway.

"Honestly, is all of this-" she gesticulated wildly around- _"truly _necessary? It's quite obvious that they're _friendly, _and judging by the fact that Sora was in the middle of some type of controlled elemental spell when I came to check on him, they're not _Muggles_ either." She shot a look at the twins in particular as she spoke the last part.

Mr. Weasley looked quite curious suddenly. "The boy can use magic?"

Hermione nodded, looking a bit uncertain at whether or not she should continue. Mr. Weasley silently prodded her on with an imploring look. She sighed, rubbing her cheek thoughtfully. "He... erm... well, when I went to... to go see... to check on him..."

Ron coughed loudly, and Harry elbowed him in the side. "Spit it out, then."

"He was holding a ball of fire in his hands!" Hermione gabbled as quickly as she could.

There was a moment of rare complete and utter silence. The Twins looked more surprised than when they had heard exactly what was in the 'ship' earlier that evening.

Then, "Hmph," came Moody's growling voice. "Doesn't really matter whether we trust him _now _then..."

Lupin scowled a bit. "Now, Alastor, this isn't a reason to completely rule out the boy's innocence-"

"That's not what he's getting at," Mr. Weasley interjected. "What we need to do now, is make sure he trusts us _completely-"_

"And he had to be kept secret, before _other _wizards find out that there is power available in the universe other than what we already have," Moody finished.

Mrs. Weasley brightened a bit. "Of course, of course, the poor boy has to be kept safe, I'll bet he's so upset and confused right now." Harry wished Sora luck, because it seemed like Mrs. Weasley had taken an immediate shining to him.

Hermione stood up with an air of finality. "I think Sora and his two friends have a right to know that we're talking about their imminent futures here. Harry? Ron?"

The boys jumped up immediately and followed Hermione out of the room. Nobody made a move to stop them. _Maybe we're _finally _taking a step in the right direction._

~|\/|~

Sora's usually cheerful grin drooped. "So... from what I've heard, the Gummi's either useless here or just trashed." He looked sideways at Donald, almost expecting an outburst.

"Aw, wasn't your fault, Sora, the ship just doesn't work on this planet." He smiled gratefully at Goofy. Of course he hadn't touched anything before the crash, but his interference had crashed the ship before, so...

Donald gave a raspy sigh. "Looks like we have to find another way out of here."

"How are we supposed to do that? It looked like the people around here were pretty surprised to see something that had come from space..." Sora buried his head in his hands. This whole thing was turning into a big production.

Goofy nodded. "They might not have anything like that around here."

"Wait a moment."

The boy and the dog turned to face Donald, who had his wing clenched under his bill in what was obviously a thinking pose. "Wasn't it here that Merlin wanted us to check out?"

Comprehension dawned on Goofy's face, and his gap-toothed grin returned. "Ya know, you're right! And he musta known the Gummi would eventually stop working, so there _has _to be a way out!"

Sora clasped his hands together. _"That's_ a relief. So we don't even have to worry about getting out yet, all we have to do is snoop around for Nobodies!"

Donald's already enormous eyes widened even further, and he held up a feather... finger? to Sora's face. "Hey, keep it down, would ya? Someone could be listening."

"Oh... yeah... oops," Sora said sheepishly. "Maybe... we should just look for a way back anyways... so they don't find out what we're doing?"

"Gawrsh, you guys, do we have to keep secrets like that?" It was clear Goofy didn't like the idea, but then again, he was probably the nicest out of the three of them. Donald rounded on him warningly.

"Yes, Goofy, until we figure out what Merlin wanted us to, we have to keep our mouths shut about-"

A loud knock coming from behind Sora startled all three of them.

"Hello? Are you guys still in there?"

Donald shot a glance at both of them, and Sora nodded before making his way over to the door.

He twisted the knob and pulled it open, sparkling smile already in place. "Sure are... what, you think we'd be going anywhere after this?"

Hermione and the redhead smiled back, but Donald noticed that the black-haired boy kept his face quite blank.

_Well, does he trust us, or not?_

~|\/|~

Soooo, a hint towards animosity between Harry and Donald in the future? Or merely a passing mention of facial expressions and those who notice them? _Wow, _what a mystery. _

You guys rock really hard. You rock even HARDER when you (commentcriticisecomplaincomplimentgotitmemorised? -shot-) review. :D

~The Bad Nut


	4. No Stories Fit

LOL HAY IT'S ME. LATEY MCLATEAUWICH. D:

Yes, I finally decided to suck it up and move the plot forward *omg I am so bold*

Seriously, leaving the computer for like. IDEK a few hours and coming back and seeing we've jumped up to FORTY REVIEWS is just so amazing. ILU all.

Digital Skitty, she's our man! If she can't beta, no one can!

~|\/|~

Sora was confused.

Hermione and two boys who had to be her friends- introduced as Harry and Ron- had just shown up and essentially jumped right into an explanation of 'the game plan-' nevermind that Sora had no idea that they were even in need of a plan of any type. Hermione had a very convincing and articulate way of speaking, Sora noticed. You couldn't help but think that she knew _exactly _what she was talking about.

The only problem was that, it seemed like she didn't exactly agree with what she was saying.

Hermione took a deep breath. "...so, you see... it's not as if we don't think you can take care of yourselves. Just, we think it's better if you stay with _us, _and not go parading your arrival around for the time being."

Goofy nodded in understanding, while Donald furrowed his fluffy white brow. "You said that it's pretty normal for people around here to have magic, though. Why would we need to be shielded like that?" At least Sora wasn't the only one who didn't quite get it.

The red-head, Ron, groaned and shook his head. "You talk too smartly for people to get you, Hermione."

Sora thought a moment, as Hermione grumbled at Ron and the other boy chuckled under his breath. It wasn't that they couldn't under_stand _Hermione, more like... her motives, perhaps?

"No, wait, it isn't that." She turned to face him. "The problem is... uh, lemme see. It's like you're not..."

"Tellin' the full story?" Goofy supplied. Sora was both surprised and grateful. That had been exactly what he was trying to say; Goofy sure was a whole lot smarter than he let on. "Yeah... not that we don't think you're being _truthful..."_

"You're just making sure we don't know the whole situation," Donald quacked irritatedly.

_"Donald!" _two sheepish voices rang out, and Sora smacked himself in the forehead while trying not to blush in embarassment.

~|\/|~

Hermione was, for once, unsure of what to say. Their three odd guests had hit the nail right on the head, and they looked like they _knew _they did, making the whole situation much more awkward.

Being who she was, Hermione automatically broke down the situation in her mind as a way of dealing with it. She had a few options. She could, a) try to smooth it over with a cover story, b) give in and tell them everything they needed to know, or c) remain quiet and shocked, take them back to the main room, and let the adults deal with it as they had started this mess in the first place.

Hermione scolded her brain for sounding biased, but then again, she couldn't exactly disagree with herself.

She sighed, and met Sora's eyes. "I think it would be better if we had Mr. Weasley explain everything... obviously, I'm not doing as good of a job as I had hoped."

She half expected the oddball trio to get upset- her explanation had certainly merited it. Instead, while Donald looked away huffily and Goofy just laughed uncertainly, Sora gave her a wide grin. "Not a problem. We're the ones who came crashing through your atmosphere, it's enough that you're not treating us like, um, I dunno. Cockroaches or something."

Hermione was left feeling shocked again. _Wow, he really is a very kind person..._ Then, she managed a small smile in response, and, turning to nod at Harry and Ron, who had been watching the exchange with interest but thankfully not interjecting, stepped hesitantly out of the room, hearing the others follow.

~|\/|~

Sora shuffled awkwardly next to Harry. Goofy and Ron were having a grand old time behind them- "Gawrsh, you're almost as tall as I am!" "So, those are your _real ears? _Wicked!"- and Donald was bringing up the rear, presumably memorising where they were and how to get to the room. _He's always so cautious. _But Sora didn't really mind.

He coughed, and tilted his head to look at the black-haired boy, who was walking with his face pointed towards his feet. This was getting way too uncomfortable, he had to start a conversation. "So, uh... where exactly are we?"

The other boy's head shot up, green eyes intent behind his round glasses. "What do you mean, where are we?" he asked.

Sora sighed inwardly as he realised he would have to be careful how he worded questions around this guy. _Jeez, can't just have a nice, pleasant conversation with _anyone _anymore..._ "I don't mean our exact location, I know you probably can't tell us that; um, let's see, this'll sound weird."

Harry was listening. Maybe he was used to odd things; no one had questioned how Donald and Goofy looked scarily human and could talk. "Um... what I mean is... what world is this?"

Sora could tell Harry was slightly perplexed by the way his eyebrow raised slightly. "D'you mean... the country?"

_Country? _Sora wasn't exactly sure what that was, but he disregarded it. "No, I mean like..." What was the word Merlin had used? 'Sometimes the places people live are only called worlds because they're small pieces of a larger system...' He couldn't remember. "Well, nevermind I guess. So, um, sure. What country are we in?"

"England."

What an odd name. He supposed that could be the name of this world, until they found out its real name.

He wondered if he ought to wait to start asking around about Nobodies and Heartless and everything. It was pretty high on their list of important things to do, but then, considering how Harry seemed to once again be lost in thought, and he had already just alienated him with his jumbled nonsensical questions... maybe it was better to wait for a while.

Sora didn't like waiting.

"Anyways... how have things been going around here with- ACK!- with- um..."

Harry was staring at him, and Sora's eyes alternated between darting around, looking for something to focus on instead of Harry, and shooting glares at the duck waddling a few feet behind them. Donald hadn't needed to _flare _him...

"Uhhhhhm, nevermind." Harry stared for a few more moments, and Sora mentally crossed his fingers. Then the other boy's face crinkled under his glasses, and he laughed faintly. "Don't worry about it, I ask dumb questions all the time."

Sora blinked a few times, confused about the change in the other's attitude, but then shrugged it off as another 'You make friends with _everyone, _Sora' kind of thing. It was something he'd been told plenty of times before, and he wasn't about to start complaining now.

Sora punched the black-haired boy on the shoulder lightly. "Who said anything about my question being _stupid?" _But he was smiling as he said it, and he could tell what they were both thinking. _Not such a bad guy after all, eh?_

~|\/|~

Sora could hear muffled voices again; they were nearing the large room Hermione and he had passed through earlier. Hermione poked her head through the doorway, and Sora hesitantly crept up behind her.

He then decided he was being entirely too careful about this whole thing. He was the Keyblade master, and open friendliness had never gotten him in much trouble before.

Sora puffed his chest up slightly, and strutted into the room, Donald and Goofy instinctively jumping to his side. The people in the room paused to look at him. "Heh heh... figured it was time for a proper introduction. I'm Sora!" He stuck a hand out, meeting everyone's eyes, and feeling slightly miffed when none of immediately moved to shake his hand.

A calm voice broke through the air. "It's nice to see you awake and coherent, Sora."

Sora laughed lightly and ran a hand through his hair. "I was coherent before, y'know. You were all just too busy being loud and surprised to notice."

The man coughed sheepishly. "Yes, well... can we assume Hermione has successfully explained the situation?" He shot a pleased look at the girl standing behind the three of them, which faltered when she failed to respond affirmatively.

Hermione blushed, embarrassed. "Er... actually, Pro- Remus, we... had a bit of trouble with that." Donald made an odd raspy noise that sounded rather like a chuckle, causing Remus to look down at him, and Goofy to frown.

"I see, I see... so, Mr. Sora."

Sora's eyes opened very wide, and he raised his hands up, shaking them back and forth wildly. "Naw, just call me Sora... Remus?"

He was pleased when a smile broke across that tired face. He'd also been told that his cheefulness was contagious; well, here was a perfect time to spread it around. His eyes met Donald's for a split second, and then the duck nodded. It was nice to have friends who could figure you out and be figured out in return so easily. It made everything much easier and kind of kept you together.

"Alright then, Sora. We really hate to have gotten off to such a rotten start-"

Sora interrupted again, dodging away from Donald's attempt to smack the back of his head. ("Be _polite._") "What, are you kidding me? You guys patched us up alright, gave us comfy beds, you haven't been anything but kind so far, PLUS you're actually trying to help us figure out what the heck is going on. Compared to our reception in, say, Monstro-" Remus raised an eyebrow, and Goofy gave a loud, gulping cough- "-we're pretty content. At least, well, I am. Can't speak for Donald and Goofy." Said animals hastened to nod after a glance from Sora.

He was grateful the older man seemed to ignore his slip about the stupid whale. Another man cleared his throat, standing up. "It's good to see you three are acting so comfortably with us and the situation... please, forgive any doubts we may have had."

Sora could tell Donald was about to make another rude comment, but luckily, Hermione stepped in. "That's exactly right, Mr. Weasley. It's fairly obvious they bear us no ill will, and in times like these, I think that's enough to ask for."

"Times like what?" Goofy's odd voice cut in. It didn't look like the people in the room were quite expecting that question, Sora thought.

The silence was tense, and it was bothering Sora. He shifted his weight to the other foot, meeting the eyes of Remus, Mr. Weasley, and the one-eyed man in the back corner. They were all staring at him intensely.

_Never met a bunch as uptight as this before... _"You guys are almost as bad as Leon. 'S just a question." He could understand if they didn't want to let loose certain bits of information- like their location, why they were all here, etc.- but he figured Goofy, Donald, and he had a right to know if they had chosen a dangerous time to crash onto the 'country.'

"Way to go, 'Mione," the grinning redhead standing behind them finally said. Said girl blushed deeply. "Mr. Weasley... doesn't it seem like they should know about the war and everyth-"

The word 'war' sent off alarm bells into the trio's brains immediately, and before Sora could stop himself, he had assumed his attack position, shouting "You mean we've landed in the middle of a _war?"_

His shout was mixed in with other cries of surprise, however, and ignored. "SORA!" Donald hissed. "You can't bring out the Keyblade when-"

"What?" Sora blinked, looked down, and saw Oblivion weighting his hands down. He was so used to holding it, he hadn't even noticed it had appeared.

He looked up at the shocked and slightly- was that _fear?- _perturbed faces in the room.

Goofy sighed and shook his head. "Guess we all have some explainin' ta do now."

~|\/|~

"Alright, alright, alright. Let's try this again."

Everyone present groaned, and Sora slumped on the table, obviously exasperated. Harry would be too, if he had been questioned as much in the past three quarters of an hour as those three had been. It wasn't as if they weren't presenting all their information clearly enough; even Ron got the gist of what was going on with them, though admittedly, even with comprehension it was still an odd story.

_"You mean, none of you have ever heard of a Keyblade?" Sora's eyes bugged out of his head, while Donald and Goofy's jaws hung open comically. "Everywhere else we've been-"_

_"Which is _where, _exactly?" Moody growled, fixing the boy with a Look. Sora worked his mouth open and shut, obviously trying hard to think of how to put things. Harry pitied him; Moody certainly lived up to his name, and could be quite intimidating when... well, whenever, really._

_Goofy scratched his head. "I guess it wouldn't hurt ta tell ya- it's not like you could do anything to the other worlds anyways, right, Donald?" The duck shook his head in confirmation, while Harry struggled to keep up. Other worlds? What were they talking about?_

_"By other worlds, do you perhaps mean other planets?" Remus put in curiously._

_"Weeeelllll, I _guess _you could call them that... but, well, no, that's not it, really." Sora wasn't making much sense, then again, Harry doubted even Hermione would be able to explain what was going on well. "Yeah, because Harry said this was England, but wasn't that the same place the clocktower in Neverland was in?"_

_"Now that you mention it, wasn't Alice living in England before she fell down the rabbit hole too?"_

_This was hopeless. "Maybe they're just like alternate dimensions?" Harry said, realising too late that most of the _wizards _here wouldn't be familiar with such a concept. "Um... nevermind."_

_Mr. Weasley sighed. "Let's just move past this part for now. So, you come from another world, and your... weapon is a Keyblade. Now, why exactly are you here?"_

_The three friends looked at each other, and Harry recognised their shared glance as what one produced when one knew something and wasn't quite sure if it was okay to tell. He, Hermione, and Ron had given each other that look many times before._

_Donald gave a little throat-clearing quack after several moments of eyebrow raising, head nodding, and other odd faces. "It's kind of a long story, but... basically, we know that this place is in danger, and we want to make sure nothing happens to it."_

"Duh _it's in danger, we're in the middle of a war!" Ron barked out, probably getting irritated with all the secretiveness. The duck turned to look at him, and Ron fell silent. Harry supposed even an animal could give good enough glares to make the redhead back off, and he chuckled to himself. _

_"This isn't getting anywhere," Donald quacked angrily. "It's pretty obvious nobody trusts anyone-" Sora made a protesting noise at this, and Harry almost snorted again in spite of himself, "-and it's clear that we're only adding onto each other's problems."_

_"Aw, Donald, you don't gotta be so negative about everythin'." Goofy cut in, trying to ease the situation. It was odd, there was just something about the dog that sort of made you _calm down _and feel better, Harry thought._

_Sora took in a deep breath, then puffed it out loudly. "I don't know, but it seems like if we're all having these huge problems, it would be better to kind of help each other along. And to do that, we _really _need you to answer our-"_

_"You're not the only ones with questions, here," Ron grumbled._

_Harry felt like clawing his eyes out. They were getting nowhere. A glance to his right told him that Hermione was feeling the same way._

_There was a rather awkward, tense silence._

_Then, the twins spoke up in perfect unison. "Maybe we should just sit in a circle and all take turns sharing."_

_Harry doubled over laughing, and saw Sora do the same out of the corner of his eye._

Bemusedly using the twins' spur-of-the-moment suggestion, they had discovered the whole deal with Sora's Keyblade. Apparently, people where he was from (and in a lot of other places) didn't just _die _when they were killed certain ways. Creatures that Sora had exasperatedly described as being 'every frickin' shape, size, and colour imaginable with a million doodads and annoying powers stuck onto each one' could evidently cause people to seperate from their hearts after they killed them. From what he understood, Sora's weapon helped get back the hearts from the things, and also helped protect the hearts of the worlds... whatever that meant.

"See, because if a world gets too swamped with Heartless, then it affects the health of the actual world itself. And it can destroy them... and they can't always be saved." Sora looked a bit sadder, and Harry found it affecting his own mood. He blurted out a question to shake off the feeling. "But why do we need your help if there aren't even any of those things here?"

Instead of addressing the borderline rudeness of his question- _Could I make things a little more awkward?- _Sora looked like an interesting mix of relieved and wary. "That's... good news, I guess... but it doesn't mean that this place is safe."

Harry gave Sora a questioning look as he felt that familiar sense of dread settle upon his shoulders.

~|\/|~

_'A strong.... will pro.... even if your body....royed, don't forget that.'_

_'....start pre..... that you care.'_

_'Hey.... can dream.... we?'_

_"It seems he was right, for once...interesting."_

~|\/|~

OMG IT BE SO COMPLETELY UNOBVIOUS WHAT IS GOING ON HERE. My poor worn out brain cannot stand against all your brilliances, I just know I'll be found out here. D:D:D: But whatevs, it just makes it more exciting if you're anticipating what's gonna happen.

Did I mention that I love you all to pieces? And that the power of REEEEEEEVIEWS can cause my love to grow enough to stick you all back together again? :3

~The Bad Nut


	5. No Rest for Heroes

Man, it's getting to be like there's lateness on top of lateness. I guess we're all going to have to accept that I'm never gonna update when I want to/say I will, and leave it at that. 8D BECAUSE A MISS PROCRASTINATION AM I.

And in this corner, the More Reliable Than Her Author, the One Who Fixes All Logic/Grammar, the Almighty Fic-Beta of Fantasticness, give it up forrrrrrr..... DIGITAL SKITTY!

~|\/|~

Donald pinched the bridge of his bill in the classic gesture of weariness and irritation. From the sound of it, this whole wizard war was going to be a _lot _more trouble than it was worth. "That's screwey," he said in response to Lupin's explanation that this Lord Voldemort person was planning to create a genocide of normal people. Sora promptly raised questions as to why he was still called Lord if he was such a jerk- "Is he king of somewhere? Why don't they fire him or something?"- and Donald held back the urge to point out what a stupid name it was anyway, as there seemed to be some sort of superstition surrounding it for the wizards. Lupin laughed, and seemed to ease up a bit.

"No, Sora, Lord Voldemort isn't truly a lord, in fact, that isn't even his real name. He created it in the hoped that one day, people everywhere would fear to speak it." Whatever reaction Mr Weasley was expecting, it probably wasn't for both Sora and Goofy to stand there, trying to hold back snorts, and then fall over laughing. Donald had to agree with them. "That's a stupid idea, who would be afraid of only a _name?" _he quacked out spitefully. He didn't want to go through this and find out their 'hosts' were a bunch of chickens, though he never really liked that phrase, as he knew some very brave chickens. Meanwhile, his companions rolled around by his feet; not literally, but it was an expression that got the point across. "Afraid... of a _name... _boy, if 'people' had been through what _we've _been through..."

"You guys sure do laugh a lot," Harry pointed out mildly from his perch on the nearest table. Sora paused in his hysterical giggling, opening one blue eye and fixing Harry with a look. Donald resisted the urge to do the same to Sora himself- honestly, mass terror even over small things and yet another world in danger was no laughing matter.

Goofy wiped a few tears out of his eyes, patting Sora's shoulder, who in turn shrugged. "Maybe we do. But, y'know, I guess it's kinda hard to focus on saving lives when you're all drowning in depression."

"Like Cloud," Donald put in helpfully. Sora had to stifle another fit of chuckles, and Harry gave them a blank look that was shared by most people in the room. "Who's Cloud?" Goofy smacked his forehead with his hand, and Donald hastily dismissed the question before they were forced into another detailed explanation of the past few years. "Oh, just someone we know on a different world." He shot a glare at the redhead, Ron, who still didn't look quite convinced that they had come from 'outer space.' Said boy raised his hands in a defensive position. "Hey, I didn't say anything, mate." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Ron..." Ignoring Ron's sputtering at having been ganged up on, Hermione honed in on Donald, whom she had deemed as the most responsible of the group. "So, Donald. You guys seem to be very fixated with this war we're having..." Donald twitched in irritation- of _course _they were! Wars were serious business, and they could only speed up the arising problems. However, he didn't want to start being offensive. He motioned for her to continue. "...and, I mean, of course it's important, but why are you three so worried? Not that we don't appreciate your trying to help!" she added hastily. "It's just..."

Lupin seemed to pick up on what the young witch was thinking. "You're worried that the war will attract these Heartless creatures, as it provides them with turmoil to work with, correct? But there has been conflict in this world before, and there are no records of anything like you're describing..."

Goofy scratched his head. "Ya know, I think that's kinda the problem. There's gotta be a _reason _the Heartless are leavin' this world alone-"

"-and we have a few ideas of what that reason could be, and none of them are good," Sora finished for him.

"There isn't a possibility that we could just be lucky, or unreachable to them?" asked Hermione anxiously. She was a smart girl, Donald thought, but she obviously tried very hard to stay out of trouble, and look for peaceful ways out. Unfortunately, peace wasn't always available. "Well, there's always a chance, but ya can't depend on chances, Hermione," Goofy said, sounding as serious as he possibly could.

"All _right, _I think that's quite enough," Moody suddenly cut in angrily. "What exactly are you so afraid of happening?"

Sora moaned- _more explaining...- _and Donald shook his head exasperatedly.

"It's sort of the same situation as with the Heartless. Sometimes, when people die, their bodies and souls aren't quite ready to leave."

~|\/|~

Harry was, needless to say, rather spooked by the descriptions the newcomers had given them of these... _Nobodies._ Thoughts of creatures who only desired to destroy those still living and whole were bad enough... but the idea that the parts left over when those creatures were created sometimes got back up, and mutated, and stayed intelligent, and desired to kill... it frightened him in odd ways he couldn't say, sort of giving the same feeling one got when a Dementor was near.

"But... you said that their leaders were gone. Dead. How would they be able to organise well enough to attack this world?" asked Mr. Weasley, bringing up, in Harry's opinion, a very good point. Sure, the things sounded bad. That didn't mean that they were in trouble just yet.

Sora threw up his hands, twirling around in an over-the-top reaction to the man's question. "Seriously! _That _is _exactly _why we're worried!" He collapsed on a nearby sofa, and Harry gave his prone form a strange look. He didn't think they had made it very clear so far.

Donald crossed his wings irritably. "That wasn't very helpful, Sora." Goofy gave a nervouse chuckle, which Donald ignored and continued. "The Heartless, for some reason, are leaving this world alone even if it would be easy for them to _tear apart." _Harry, Ron, and most of the wizards in the room flinched slightly. "That would only make sense if something as strong or stronger- namely, the Nobodies- was keeping them away."

Lupin nodded, and Sora spoke in a muffled sort of manner after a pause. "They're smart, but they aren't smart enough to want or be able to do that by themselves. They would need the Organisation's help."

"So, basically..." Hermione spoke up, obviously having been thinking hard, "...you're worried... that this Organisation might not be _quite _as dead as you thought?"

Both Donald and Goofy looked greatly relieved, and Sora stuck up one fist from his spot on the couch. _"Yes!" _

"You're amazing, Hermione," Harry said, feeling both disbelief and a bit of pride. His friend just seemed to _always _get _everything._

Hermione's cheeks pinked slightly. "But how is that possible? If you killed them all-"

~|\/|~

_"...solutely absurd... float around this place... the rest of my life?"_

_A chuckle, an abstract noise, perhaps like the one a puzzle makes as it's put together and completed at last, if one could hear it._

_"...ling... don't honestly be... still living?"_

_"We're here, aren't we, L......?"_

~|\/|~

"-how on Earth would they be organising anything? People can't just come back to life."

Sora twisted his head around as far as it could go, and despite his comical position, his words were rather foreboding. "Nobodies aren't people, though."

Lupin broke the silence that spanned the room afterwards. "Your words... do have some merit. However, I don't believe we will be able to fight any battles until we figure out exactly what to do with you."

Donald blinked. "Whaddya mean, what to do with us?"

"Yeah, what, are you gonna put us in storage or something until the Nobodies or your Voldy guy starts causing trouble?"

Harry snorted at the nickname Sora had spontaneously given the Dark Lord. _Boy, would he ever be pissed if he heard Sora say that..._ He shuddered slightly.

Mr. Weasley got a deceptively kind look on his face. "You know, of course, that Harry, like all children, returns to school in the fall..."

Sora wasn't liking the sound of this. "And...?"

"'Trouble' _does _seem to follow him wherever he goes..."

"Oh boy." Sora paled slightly. "But I can't... heroes don't go and sit through _school... _what about Donald and Goofy, you said it isn't normal to see dogs and ducks walking around, and we can't be seperated..."

"There are several spells capable of transforming animals into humans," Hermione piped up brightly. "We could try it out now, if you like."

The trio simultaneously wished themselves capable of hiding in some safe, small, dark corner.

~|\/|~

"Man oh _man, _I don't wish _that _experience on _anyone,_" Sora groaned pitifully, staring down with intense dislike at his new wand.

"At least you're still in your normal body," Donald growled out. He missed his _wings, _damnit! He, himself, hadn't needed to purchase anything from that wand store. He was quite comfortable with having his staff turned into the appropriate shape- it was still about the same size, and same function, obviously.

Of course, he would have liked it _much _better if he was holding it with his wing.

Harry attempted to make a bit of peace. "You'll get used to having actual fingers, Donald-" he winced as the duck-turned-human began ranting furiously about how his wings worked just _fine _without those stupid attachments- "-and yeah, I suppose Mr. Ollivander is a little creepy."

"More like a lot creepy," Ron spoke up. The man just didn't know the meaning of personal space. And while Dumbledore's twinkling eyes were charming, if not deceptive, Ollivander's were just plain _weird._

Goofy laughed softly. It was still quite odd, hearing him speak without as much of a loping, drawling quality to his words, though he still pronounced some of them oddly, Sora mused. "I don't get why I have to have one of your stick things, the Keyblade can cast spells just _fine."_

"Yeah, but it would raise some odd questions if you whipped out a giant key every time a professor told you to perform a spell," Hermione pointed out.

"Plus, you could accidentaly lop someone's head off with it," said Ron with a short laugh.

Sora was just about to protest that he had perfect control over whose head he lopped off, when Goofy suddenly gave a rather canine yelp and stumbled backwards, having just walked straight into a narrow-eyed blonde.

"Watch where you're walking, you..." The boy trailed off, his eyes resting on Harry.

"Ah, Potter. Putting off all your important errands until the last minute?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the slight insult. "And you, Malfoy? Didn't think I'd see you strutting around Diagon Alley- are you lost? The Knockturn signpost is right over there."

Malfoy bristled noticeably, and Sora, sensing the impending conflict, decided to intervene. He jumped to the front of the group, leaving a few wizards wondering what the heck he did to make his legs so strong, and stuck out his hand. "Hey there! You look kinda mad, you shouldn't sneer so much- I'm Sora!"

Ron struggled not to burst out laughing at the mention of Malfoy's most used facial expression. Said blonde looked like he couldn't decide between being angry or confused. "Er... I'll... try, then..." He looked down at the proffered hand. "Are you pureblood?"

The Golden Trio looked frankly irritated at this question, confusing both Donald and Goofy. Sora made a face. "Uh... pureblood? I think so... actually, I'm pretty sure inter-racial breeding is illegal..."

Whatever either of them meant to say to the other, Malfoy looked pleased, and the brunette was of course pleased that he was pleased. Malfoy shook his hand. "Draco. Pleasure to meet you."

Harry and Ron looked on in disbelief- was Malfoy actually being _civil?- _while Hermione just shook her bushy head. For all his cunning, the Slytherin boy could be rather predictable.

Some time later, as Malfoy walked off after excusing himself politely, the three young wizards (or wizards and witch) rounded on Sora. "You must make friends with _everyone." _

Sora shrugged, even as he inwardly smirked and Goofy gave him a grin; so many people said that to him. "I don't know. I guess pretty much everyone is nice enough to get along with."

"Yeah, but not _Malfoy." _Sora tilted his head and furrowed his brows. Wasn't the blonde's name Draco?

He supposed it was just a pleasant nickname they had given him, although Harry didn't seem to like him much.

"Alright, so next... we get to go to the _Apothecary!" _It sounded exciting, Sora wondered why Harry and Ron both groaned.

~|\/|~

_"...complaining, of course... actly did we end...? I don... dead."_

_"If you would... ior, once in a... lained everything..."_

_"Yeah, yeah... time to listen to... old gee... bout everything."_

_"Even about dying?"_

~|\/|~

Hummmmm, we gots _several _new players now, precious, yesssss we does... we wonders what's going to happen with thems... 8D

I say AWESOME CHAPTER, you say REVIEW! Get it? Got it? Give it a try! AWESOME CHAPTER-

~The Bad Nut


	6. No More Battles, Please?

Can I please take this moment to thank you all for putting up with my increasing lateness. You know how it goes, real life gets up in your butt and makes itself comfortable, and you're like ARGH GET OUT OF MY BUTT I NEED TO WRIIIIITE but it's practically taken up residence there... no? That doesn't happen to you?

Well, you can't say I don't work hard trying to help ya'll understand me here. :3

Also, I'd like- actually, I'd LOVE to offer a big fat HALLELUJAH FELICITACIONS CONGRATS to **Kimimari, **who wrote the 100th review~ To someone who's used to not getting past 10, it's a big deal, okay?

In Soviet Intarwebz, awkward sentences and grammar phails fix Digital Skitty!... no? At least I tried.

~|\/|~

Sora had to say, he was pretty impressed with this "Hogwarts Express." He still couldn't quite figure out how they managed to fit a whole train circuit behind a small brick wall, but nobody seemed to bother with logic here. And this was the biggest train he'd ever seen; not that he'd seen many, but still.

"Well don't just stand there gawking at it," someone said irritably from behind him. Sora had to hide a snort; Donald's usual underlying grumpiness was surfacing now as he was made to lug a huge trunk full of books he probably wouldn't need, clothes he'd never worn and would never wear again, and an assembly of magical trinkets that just made the whole thing heavier. To be honest, neither Sora nor his companions understood why they had to have a big fat metal _cauldron _when a normal cooking pot would probably suffice. Maybe it was just to add to the whole wizardly feel.

Goofy loped by, carrying his own trunk as if it weighed a tenth of what it actually did, and Donald struggled to match his pace. Sora laughed at the no-longer-a-duck's antics, easily hoisting the big brown case onto his shoulder.

"You, uh... work out?" He turned and saw Hermione giving him a strange look. He shrugged one shoulder.

"Not really, but I guess fighting Darkside and Ansem and stuff like that gave me a little boost." Sora grinned, then turned and darted through the crowd after his buddies.

Donald was struggling to push his luggage onto the train, Goofy having gone ahead to find a compartment they could share with their new wizard friends. Sora sighed, flipping up onto the floor of the train and tugging boy and trunk with him. "Maybe you should learn how to use a sword or something instead of just casting spells all the time," he said mildly. Donald gave him a dirty look.

"Maybe _you _should keep all the weight-lifting and high-jumping to a minimum. We're getting weird looks."

Sora looked around indiscreetly and discovered that, indeed, various witches and wizards scattered around them were staring. He gave his standard deal-with-awkward-moments smile and wave, and everyone went back to their own business.

"Hey, Sora, wanna help a guy out?"

Ron was staring up to them sheepishly, the handle to his trunk held in a limp hand.

He was given a patient smile, and the spikey-haired brunette crouched down to oblige.

"Oh, I hate to be a bother... but could you grab mine too?"

Hermione puffed into sight, dropping her baggage with a dull thunk. The smile didn't fade, and Sora leapt down, picking it up and giving Harry a look. "Want me to grab yours too?"

"Sure... thanks."

The Weasley twins, who had noted what was going on with interest, spoke up. "Ours are pretty darn heavy this year..." "...would you mind carrying them up there for us?"

"Hah, no problem." He was already reaching for them. Hermione gave him an almost guilty look and began tugging her trunk to the compartment Goofy had found, towards the rear of the train.

A rather heavyset boy gave Sora a weary look. "Say... do you think you could-"

"No problem!"

"While you're at it, grab mine too."

"Sure thing."

"Here, you're already up there, take these two."

"Okay!"

An carefree smile in place, Sora didn't seem to mind the small line that formed in front of him, or the seperate line next to him of satisfied schoolchildren clambering easily onto the train and collecting their trunks without so much as a backwards glance. "You could say thanks!" was shouted after them a few times, but there was no real bite in it.

"What a good guy, huh?"

~|\/|~

The last little brunette girl gave him a tiny smile before she scurried to find her friends. Sora stood and rubbed his forehead, more out of habit than because he was actually perspiring. "Now... where exactly did Goofy say our compartment was?"

His ever-present grin gave way to a small frown. Maybe he should've been paying attention... "Oh well." On a whim, Sora turned right, towards the front of the train, trunk swinging at his side.

Fifteen minutes later showed that this was a bad decision.

He scratched his head between his brown spikes of hair. "Who gets lost on a _train," _he muttered to himself, vaguely irritated.

"Potter not taking proper care of you, Sora?"

He turned to find a familiar blonde smirking at him. Oblivious to the snarkiness of Malfoy's words, Sora grinned sheepishly. "Not really his fault... I was helping people get their stuff on the train and it took a while, and, well, I don't really know where I'm going." The train car swayed slightly, and Malfoy leaned against compartment door for balance, while Sora remained upright. They regarded each other for a moment.

"I gotta ask... why do Harry and Ron and Hermione call you Malfoy? Is that some sort of nickname?"

Malfoy laughed, running a hand over his blonde hair. "Of course not. Malfoy is my family name. They just use it because we don't... because we're not closely acquainted."

"Oh." Sora's brow furrowed. "Do you care if _I_ call you Draco?"

A pale eyebrow rose, and Malfoy seemed to pause and consider. "...of course not. I don't suppose _you _have a family name you'd rather be called by?"

Sora shook his head. "So, listen... you wouldn't happen to know where they're sitting, would you?" He doubted that Draco would, but there wasn't really anyone else he could ask, so...

"As it happens, I do. You were going in the completely wrong direction." A small blush rose on the brunette's cheeks, and he followed after Malfoy meekly.

"No need to look so embarrassed, it's your first time on the train." The thousand-watt smile returned in full, and Sora wondered briefly why Harry and the others seemed to not like Draco; he was being really nice, all things considered.

~|\/|~

Turned out that Goofy had picked a compartment at the very back of the train. It took the two of them some time to weave through other students, sweet trolleys (Malfoy waited patiently while Sora ooh-ed and aah-ed over all the candies, only getting annoyed when he couldn't decide what to buy,) escaped pets (Sora was more than a little surprised to see a tarantula crawling towards him at high speed,) and unpacked luggage, so that they actually ran into Hermione, who was obviously looking for Sora.

A bushy brown head was coming towards them. "Oh- _Sora!" _Her look of relief was replaced by a look of suspicion as she noted his companion. "Why are you walking with Malfoy?"

A sneer slid easily onto the blonde's face. "For your information, Mudbl..." His eyes flickered to his companion, who was watching the exchange with no little concern. "...Granger, I was escorting Sora to your compartment, seeing as he was left _alone _in the middle of the train with no idea where to go."

Hermione flushed and gave the Keybearer a guilty look. "Well-... er, sorry, Sora." She nodded curtly at Malfoy, then ushered the little brunette away. He threw a quick 'thanks!' over his shoulder, then the two were gone. Malfoy sighed a little, then began making his way back to his own compartment.

~|\/|~

It took a lot to make Sora feel uncomfortable or awkward. He was the king of obliviousness, of not knowing when it was time to shut your trap because you're _making it worse. _However, he was currently getting that vibe from his compartment mates.

"Wait... run that one by me again."

Sora threw his hands up and slumped onto the seat. "Like I _said, _I just got lost!"

"No, the other part. You're honestly saying that _Malfoy-"_

"Well, he said I could call him Draco."

Sora recognised this as a good time to shut his trap. His discover was helped along with the stares he got.

"Malfoy took you back to find us."

"Yup."

"He _helped _you."

"Why is this so difficult for you to grasp?" Donald growled. Like many things, the Golden Trio's confusion was beginning to get on his nerves.

Ron spluttered at the not-so-carefully-hidden insult. "Because- because he's a git!"

Now it was Sora's turn to be confused. "A _what?" _

The only female in the compartment shook her head and chuckled. "He's a 'jerk.'" Obviously, if anyone could translate British slang into something a couple of guys from outer space could understand, it was Hermione.

Sora frowned at the term. "He's not a _jerk, _he was being nice! I seriously don't get why you guys are acting like that's so hard to believe."

Harry stared at him incredulously. Goofy nudged him and bent down to mutter in his ear. "Ya gotta get used ta it, Sora makes friends with _everybody, _no matter how not-nice they are_. _It's kinda like his trademark."

Understanding dawned on the dark-haired boy's face, and he nodded. Sora _did _seem to just... ooze out a friendliness that made you want to get along with him. "Let's just drop it already. I mean, it's not like Malfoy's never made friends before... just not with us." Although, back in first year, he actually had tried...

"If you can call his group of lackeys friends," Ron mumbled, but obeyed.

~|\/|~

_"...see that?"_

_"What?"_

_"...now... picture going... exactly are we?"_

_"How the... I know?"_

_"Must we... so?"_

_"Le...! At last, someone who will... me."_

_"This isn't... anywhere. For the... look... there's pictures of... nge place going..."_

_"Is that the...?"_

_"I have to won... much power we really... in this pla..."_

_"I don't know. Give an order."_

_"Fine. Follow that train."_

_A flash of silver illuminates the darkness surrounding them (is it really darkness? It could be pitch black, it could be pure white, but it certainly isn't anywhere in the grey) and a ringing is left in their ears. An image passes before their eyes, perhaps right in front of them, perhaps only in their minds, of a deformed humanoid shape slithering along a train track._

~|\/|~

Harry snorted as Sora gave an almighty stretch, bringing his arms around and squishing Donald and Hermione to his sides. "How long is the trainride usually?" the little brunette asked, ignoring Donald's irritated struggling and Hermione's barely noticeable blush.

"Dunno the exact time, but we're always there right around nightfall," Ron said. "I guess, since the train leaves at 11, that makes at about... 7 hours? 8?"

"That's if we don't have any holdups," Harry added, shuddering in remembrance of the Dementor that had boarded the Hogwarts Express a few years ago.

"Holdups?" It was still odd, hearing Goofy speak without that odd gulping lilt to his voice, but Harry threw off the momentary shock and clarified.

"Yeah, sometimes we have... unexpected guests."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Unexpected and unwelcome, you mean?" Again, Harry was caught off guard. Sora could be a fair bit more perceptive than he'd thought.

"Well... you wouldn't exactly welcome a Dementor with open arms, yeah." He sort of expected a bit of sillyness from the other boy, a hastily covered giggle at the name, perhaps, but Sora only plunked his head back into the seat cushioning.

"What's a dementor?" Donald asked, soundning genuinely curious.

Another cold shiver ran through Harry, and Ron picked up on it, stepping in. "Really nasty dark creatures, they make you, er, they basically make you remember everything you regret and hate and are scared of... and sometimes they suck your soul out." As one, Goofy, Donald, and Sora winced.

"Sounds a bit too familiar for me." Sora gave Donald a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Their redheaded companion shrugged and reached for one of the Chocolate Frogs that Sora had carted in. "'S long as today's ride goes alright, I'm not really concerned with stuff like that. Conversation turns uncomfortable."

"Don't jinx it, Ron." Harry grinned, and Ron shoved him playfully.

"Yeah, right, like I believe in-"

He was cut off as the train car gave a sudden lurch, and everyone was tossed towards the window. _"Ow!"_

Hermione sat up, rubbing her head. "What on earth was that?" Sora was busy pulling his face out of Donald's armpit.

"Jeeze, wash your pits once in a while, Donald." Said boy huffed and crossed his arms.

"I'm used to having feathers and no armpits, thank you."

"Aw, c'mon, I was joking."

"Guys, ssh!" Hermione made a hushing movement with her hand. "Don't you hear that?"

Goofy visibly perked up. Harry supposed his hearing hadn't worsened, even with different ears, because he immediately nodded. "Kinda like a... beepin'? Twinklin'?"

"Stars twinkle, Goofy. Not sounds."

"No, that _is _what it sounds like... it's hard to describe..." Hermione was cocking her head to one side, and she reached for the handle of the door. "I don't think we just hit a bump."

Something about this was feeling... _off _to Harry, and Sora evidently felt the same, for he caught the back of Hermione's sweater. "Hold on." She turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just, uh... let us go first." Donald was reaching for something inside his coat, and Harry saw a glow of green coming from Goofy's pocket. Sora looked to the former canine. "Is it...?"

"Hard ta tell, but it sure sounds like it."

Ron stood up furiously. "Quit with the secretiveness, and will somebody please tell me what is-"

The train car lurched again, but while Harry, Ron, and Hermione predictably fell against the door, Sora easily kept his balance, Donald did the same, and Goofy barely stumbled. The beeping was getting louder and more insistant. Sora met Harry's eyes.

"When we said this world was in trouble, we meant it."

Then he wrenched the compartment door open, just as something silver flashed past.

~|\/|~

Sora bared his teeth at the small group of Dusks gathered towards the far end of the train car. "Why won't you just leave us _alone?"_

He didn't expect an answer, and instead made a grim charge towards the Nobodies, who only twitched and swayed in response.

~|\/|~

_"So the... _is _here."_

_"With any luck, he'll think it's... the Nobodies arrived."_

_"Of course. No need to... distraction... we regroup."_

_"You think more... come?"_

_"I don't... why not."_

_"Xemnas will be pleased."_

~|\/|~

Haha, not much to say on this chapter, except that I love writing nice!Draco. Also, if you'd like to mosey on over to my profile, there's a quick poll going on there concerning something in the next chapter... plz take it? Pretty plz? 3

Also: ಠ_ಠ. Just because.

~The Bad Nut


	7. No Fear

Holy hell, I can't believe you all stuck with me for... hoshit, THREE MONTHS. AND STILL I'VE BEEN GETTING A FLOW OF REVIEWS. I just cannot believe how amazing you all are, if it was ME, I'd slap that late author upside the head with a big fat _get writing, bitch! _

No, I'm really glad that you're all so understanding, though. Blame education. The other day I worked steadily for _7 hours _and STILL couldn't finish all my homework. Yeah, I know, whiiiiine whiiiiine but it does make it hard.

Well, currently Miss Skitty is nowhere to be found, and I want to get this chaptre up as I don't know when I'll next have time, so excuse any grammar/sensibility errors you may find, we'll get around to fixing them soon enough~

Be forewarned, this chap's a bit angsty D:

~|\/|~

Sora had noticed quite early on that fighting against Heartless was a very methodical process- sort of just _slash hack slash, turn, hack slash hack, turn, hack slash stab, turn, _and so on with the occasional Cure or elemental spell thrown in. It was almost mindless, fighting the Heartless.

Not so with Nobodies.

Maybe it was because of their ability to turn into actual human shapes, maybe because they were just supposed to be all around smarter than Heartless, but with the middle-and-higher-class Nobodies especially, he found that the battles were a lot more intricate. They had an idea of when to dodge, for one, and were sensible enough to look for openings in his stance.  
It was probably better for him to practise against Nobodies anyway, just in case-

Sora squashed that line of thought. _They're not going to come back. They're not, _he reassured himself, sprinting after the silver form as it slithered down the line of the train. Donald and Goofy were doing their best to contain the other students inside their train compartments, but they soon enough had a taste of how difficult it was to keep a bunch of excited magical teenagers in one place when they would _really _rather be in another. Sora heard a rather scratchy shout and something about how human toes were much less durable than webbed feet, and almost laughed out loud.

_Look at you, Sora. About ready to stab some poor creature in the gut, and you're laughing. _He shook his head. Where were all these deep thoughts coming from?

"Goofy, Donald! Forget about the other kids, I need you up here!" he shouted, not even bothering to look over his shoulder; Goofy at least would pick up on it, he knew. He glanced into the startled faces blurred by the compartment windows and his own speed. Sora wouldn't allow these people to get hurt for something he had done wrong.

Even as he was bringing down the Keyblade upon the first Dusk, he stumbled and almost missed his mark as a few familiar voices caught up with him.

"Hey, you guys! What-"

"What the hell is going on here?"

_"Ron, _this isn't the time for-"

Sora narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth, blocked out the sound, and studied the group of Nobodies scurrying down the corridor about twenty feet away from him. "Glide," he muttered, and leapt up into the air, high as the ceiling would allow, executing a perfect flip and shooting after them. A jerk of his arm, and one of the bodies dissolved. A downwards slash took out two more. His feet touched the ground, and instantly he was back up in the air, leaping right after the Dusks who did the same. Yes, he decided, while with Heartless it was a systematic annihilation, with Nobodies it was almost like a... _dance, _his movements only hampered by the tight spaces and the fear of smashing one of those compartment windows. He thanked whomever was listening that the nearby students had the sense to stay inside.

"Sora!"

Uh-oh. Donald only used that particular tone right when he was about to get clubbed from behind by-

_"Stupefy!"_

He blinked in shock along with the silver-and-black creatures surrounding him as one of their numbers fell to the ground in a faint. No disintegration, it just fell. For all their intelligence, the other Nobodies couldn't stop natural curiosity and shuffled around him, giving him ample opening to destroy them.

He dropped to the ground, the Keyblade disappearing, savouring the chance to get a good look at his enemy for the first time.

~|\/|~

Harry was breathing rather heavily considering he had only cast one spell. His wand was thrust out in front of him, and he barely noticed as Sora easily dealt with the rest of the silvery things. He was focused entirely on the creature that had almost taken out the other boy.

"Nice reaction time, Harry," Goofy muttered from a few feet away, and Harry couldn't decide if he was joking or not. He just seen the thing leap... seen Sora fail to turn around... even though he had no idea what the things were, he had been nearly as frightened as when he had received the news of Hermione's Petrification all those years ago.

He lowered his wand and stepped forward uncertainly. "S...Sora?"

"You okay, mate?"

Harry turned and was surprised to see that Ron had been addressing him, not the Key-bearer.

"I, uh... yeah, I just... I dunno, I panicked."

Hermione shook her head. "Honestly, you and your hero complex..." But he could tell she was just as unnerved about it as he was.

The main thing was that they didn't know what these creatures _did. _While they were perfectly fine against opponents with wands, because they _understood them,_these things acted purely animalistic- and it didn't look to be the sort of fight where you aimed to disable first. No. Sora was determined to kill the things, and when they realised that, they returned it in full. At least, that's what it looked like to Harry. And to be honest, nothing scared him more than that complete need-to-destroy mindset. There was no room for negotiation or anything.

_It was almost like being around Voldemort. _Harry shook his head. These things were scary, but nowhere near as bad as that man.

"Alright. Crisis over. Now, what the bloody hell is going on here?" Harry had rarely heard Ron sounding so pissed off. He must have been upset by it too.

Sora wiped his hands, though there appeared to be nothing on them, and stood up. However, instead of heading over to where Harry and the others stood, he made a sort of hand gesture at Donald and Goofy, who both nodded, and the three of them immediately began checking around in compartments.

"Everyone alright in here?"

"Any injuries?"

"Everybody okay?"

"No, we're not okay! What the hell was that just now?" A curly haired brunette boy followed Sora after a moment. "One minute everything's fine and dandy, then all the sudden _you're _running 'round the place with a giant _key-"_

"And where did those things come from, huh?" a tallish blonde demanded, her robes already on. "They couldn't have just climbed into the train, there isn't a way in besides the doors!"

_"You _three seem to know what's going on-"

"This is absolutely insane-"

_"Please, _everybody!" Harry ran a pinky through his ear; Sora could apparently be very loud if he wanted to. Said boy raised his hands and waved them a bit, and Harry noticed with some amusement that his head didn't quite reach above the blonde's. "If I try to explain it to everyone now, it'll take all night. I'll talk to your principal-"

Hermione coughed. "Headmaster." Sora continued on as if nothing had happened.

"I'll talk to your headmaster before the, um, feast thing, and I'm sure between the two of us we can figure it out."

The brunette muttered something sounding rather like "Figure _what _out?" but begrudgingly returned to his compartment along with the others. Sora sighed, running a hand through his wild spikes.

"Guess we got even more explaining to do, oh joy..."

~|\/|~

The six of them gathered around the Nobody that Sora had gingerly dragged back to the train compartment. Even knowing just what it was, Sora couldn't exactly call it _ugly- _it wasn't like the Heartless, all dripping black and misshapen versions of normal people. He decided he much preferred the bright silvery-grey of the Nobodies to the drab colours most Heartless came in. _It's probably because Nobodies are supposed to be souls as well as bodies, and Heartless are just like dead hearts... _He surprised himself with his insight sometimes.

"So this is a Nobody, eh?" The brunette looked up in surprise. Hermione was the one who had spoken, studying the unconscious form with interest. He chuckled at the expression on Ron and Harry's face, something along the lines of, _That's our Hermione, always the first to figure everything out. _Almost like Donald, or Kairi when they had all been together. It was odd, how easily he compared his own friends to this trio.

"You guys must have some special magic... we hadn't heard of any attack that could stop a Nobody without killing it before this," Donald put in thoughtfully. "Could I see one of your wands?"

The three wizards exchanged cautious glances, Ron handing his over uncertainly. "Just, uh... be careful not to think real hard when you're holding it, okay?" The duck-turned-human laughed unexpectedly.

"Maybe we should let Sora hold it, then, he'd have no problem with that!" Goofy immediately burst out into ill-concealed giggles, while Sora took a moment to catch on.

"Wait a minute, that's... hey!"

An unmistakable pout formed on his face as the two wizards tried and failed to muffle their own amusement, and just like that, the uneasy mood was broken.

"Anyways..." Sora shot an irritated look at Donald, but they both knew he didn't really mean it. "Yeah, this is a Nobody. Your kind of magic must be a lot different from ours, though..."

"Why do you say that?" Hermione was giving him a calculating look, and Goofy stepped in for him.

"It's nuthin ta get worked up over, just that we've only ever been able to, uh, _disintegrate _the Heartless and Nobodies. Not just knock them out."

Sora nodded enthusiastically. "Right. And, I mean, not that we would wanna keep them _all _around... but it kinda gives us a disadvantage if we can't ever even get a close look at them."

"Unless they're like Axel," Donald put in, and the three as one flinched,

~|\/|~

_"...ust hear that t... name?"_

_"They look alm... about it. See his face?"_

_"I had com... gotten about him though. What are... with him if... back?"_

_"Can we be re... in here?"_

_"Would you like t... test it ou... you?"_

_"Be quiet, all of you. Check to... that Nobody's still able to... what they're doing."_

_"Ah, M... just arrived and already...?"_

_"He's right, Larxene. Shut up."_

_"Come on, g... we can't get... never be out of here. Would you like that?"_

~|\/|~

thoroughly confusing their companions.

"Wait, I missed something. Who's Axel?"

More uncomfortable glances were exchanged. Hermione gently prompted them. "You guys, I don't think it will help us anymore to keep secrets from each other.

Goofy looked at the ceiling, Donald looked at the floor, and Sora looked out the window and sighed. "He was just a friend. Well... he wasn't at first. But he was good. He's dead now."

~|\/|~

_"Serves the little...ight."_

_"Axel? Good? These... kids, he must've... to their faces."_

_"Almost makes you... the lot of them."_

_"But they trusted...that could be... to us."_

_"But just... that they aren't wrong?"_

_"Don't... me laugh."_

~|\/|~

The statement had affected Harry especially deeply... not just the statement itself, but the look on Sora's face as he said it. Their was sorrow, to be sure, but the other boy seemed unnervingly accepting of the fact that his friend was dead. If Harry lost someone like that... but he had, and it had been people he had hardly known, even if he was blood-related to them, and it had been so long ago, and he was still so shaken up by it. Not for the first time, Harry wondered what these three had gone through.

"A friend," Hermione had spoken up after a moment's contemplation. "But he was a Nobody, wasn't he?"

Both Harry and Ron turned to her sharply. She glanced at the both of them before continuing. "You said that he was the only Nobody you'd ever gotten a close look at, didn't you? But how was he different from _these?" _She nudged the form on the carpet with a foot.

Sora was curled up on the seat now, looking moody. Goofy awkwardly patted his shoulder, while Donald addressed Hermione directly. "He was different. We've explained about the Organization already..."

"Right," Harry put it. "They seemed almost human, I think is what you said. But then they were still, erm, emotionless? Something like that?"

"Nobodies don't have hearts, as a rule," came Sora's muffled voice. He rested his chin on his knees and blinked slowly. "They all want them, though, that is- was the goal of the Organization. And some of them tried to deny that lack of a heart. Axel was one of those. He made friends with... with another member, and it sort of... it almost gave him his heart back, almost. And he decided to help us." Harry missed the slight confusion etched across Donald's face as Sora spoke, but took note of how hesitant the other boy sounded.

"And the other member? Did you know him?" Hermione asked sharply, and Harry was about to ask how she knew it was a 'him,' when Sora sighed even more heavily than before and hung his head. "He's my Nobody."

Hermione nodded in a rather satisfied way. "I would ask if he's safe, but I think if you had a dangerous counterpart running loose still, you would have told us." Sora grinned halfheartedly, rubbing at a spot on his upper chest. Goofy nudged him, and he glanced at his hand with a surprised expression, slowly putting it down.

"But, so... yeah. It doesn't really matter what Axel is or was or how we knew him, because he's gone now." Hermione hesitated before lowering her voice, and Harry leaned in without really knowing why.

"How did he die?"

Sora's eyes began to mist over, and Harry thought that that might have been the only stupid question Hermione ever asked. But the other boy didn't seem to mind. He wiped at his face, attempting to make it look casual. "He... I was just, just kind of in trouble. And he stepped in. Saved my butt, y'know. I guess he put a little too much into it."

Harry could tell there was more to it, the real fuel to whatever could make Sora look that downhearted, but he decided that, for once, the Golden Trio had done enough prying.

"Let's change the subject, guys." Sora gave him a weak smile.

"I think that's a good idea."

~|\/|~

Sora shook his head furiously. Almost all of his prior sadness was gone now, and he was in a heated argument with the witch sitting across from him, the subject of the argument being the Nobody lying between them.

"I just don't understand it, Sora, you seem like such a compassionate person! Why do you _absolutely have to _kill this creature?"

"We've _told _you, it's not the same as killing," Donald growled, a heavy scowl etched upon his pale features. "They're already dead, and it's really doing them a service to-"

"But they're obviously so much weaker than you! And like this, it's practically _slaughter!_" Hermione's hair was frizzier than usual, and her cheeks had flushed with emotion. Harry shook his head dazedly. Hermione was his best friend, of course, but he really couldn't understand her views on a lot of things.

Ron was obviously feeling the same way. "C'mon, Hermione, give it a rest. It's not like they can be reasoned with, right?" Goofy nodded, an apologetic sort of expression on his face.

"B'lieve us, if there was a way to talk to 'em, we woulda figured it out by now. It's only the human-shaped ones that can really reason an' stuff." Harry was still trying to place what sort of an accent he had now, something like an American cowboy, sort of, maybe mixed with Australian. It was funny, the little details that he latched onto. He decided to finally step in, addressing the agitated witch beside him.

"Don't forget that this thing almost killed Sora." This remark seemed to subdue Hermione slightly, and she sat down, looking sadly at the creature.

"It just seems wrong to me, is all."

Sora sighed. "It took me a little while to get used to the idea, too. But you gotta understand, the Keyblade is special. It sort of... unlocks them, if that makes sense."

Harry resisted the urge to do the sort of 'bwuh?' that would be characteristic of Goyle.

Donald gave the distinct impression of a large bird smoothing down his ruffled feathers. "Well, I don't think there's really a lot of people that would _want _their bodies to turn into that after they die. It's the same way that killing Heartless frees the hearts- this frees the bodies."

Hermione nodded in a rather distracted way, and sort of half-sighed. "So... there's really no way around it?"

"Not if we want to destroy it in the best way possible."

She sat back. Harry suspected this was the only sort of 'permission' the rest of them were going to get, and told the other four so. Ron sniggered as Hermione made to protest, but they were both silenced as Sora stood up, cracking his neck and sticking his hand out. It looked silly for a moment, but then, in a slowed-down version of the last two 'Keyblade summonings' as he was told they were called, bubbles and tendrils of light wrapped around the other boy's hand. It was really quite pretty, he noted, and watched with interest as a dark key-shape materialized, starting from Sora's hand and building its way outwards. The other boy twirled it around once- probably a habit, Harry thought- and then, with one controlled thrust, the gothic-looking key had buried itself in the centre of the creature's chest. He felt Hermione flinch next to him, but he was too interested to take note of it.

As slowly as the Keyblade had appeared, the Nobody disappeared. Its body almost seemed to ripple, and it simultaneously faded and frothed into some sort of black smokey substance. The whole thing took about five seconds. A few stray grey wisps floated upward, and then the thing was gone. Hermione let out a breath next to him.

Harry tilted his head at her. She had a curious expression on her face. "How do they die like that?"

Sora blinked. "What do you mean?"

"To be honest," Ron began, "I'm confused too. You said that was the body left over, right? I get when you say those other thingies-"

"Heartless," Hermione put in exasperatedly.

"Yeah, those things- you say they don't technically have bodies, so I get that _they _would disappear. But all the ones like this, where do their bodies go?"

The other three were staring at them, looking just as confused as Harry felt. "But doesn't everyone die like that?"

Whatever answer they were expecting, this wasn't it.

"I mean, unless the Heartless get to you first and eat your heart, _then _your body stays-"

"But that's impossible!" Hermione sounded almost hysterical. "You're telling me that when you _die, _there's _nothing _left behind unless you get eaten by some _monster? _That makes absolutely _no sense!"_

Harry could understand why she was upset. It wasn't enough that Sora and Donald and Goofy had arrived bringing tidings of these evil things, they had decided to bend the laws of science too. But it wasn't really worth arguing over now, he thought. "Hermione, relax. Different, uh, planets, dimensions, worlds, whatever, different rules, okay? It's alright." Ron rubbed her back uncertainly.

"Let's just get our robes on, guys. We'll be there soon, I think."

~|\/|~

"I don't like these clothes," Sora complained for probably the fifth time as they were making their way towards the castle, tugging hopelessly at his tie. "How are you supposed to fight in these? And look at this _castle, _it's probably bigger than Disney castle! It might even be bigger than Hollow Bastion! If there's _one _place I _really _would rather be able to fight in, it's _this _place- and I can barely walk in these shoes! How do you cope with having so little toeroom? This whole thing is ridiculous, I can't believe I, of all people, have to go to _school-"_

"Sora!" Donald finally snapped. "We're all three of us uncomfortable. Just try to deal with it for now, _okay?"_

Sora fell silent, glaring at no one in particular. Donald knew very well that he was only complaining so much because of how this place set his nerves on end- he'd bet his left butt cheek that his two friends felt the same way.

Harry must have picked up on his feelings. "Don't worry, Sora. Hogwarts is the safest place in- well, anywhere, really."

Ron gave a small cough. "Unless Voldemort's involved, but I mean, that only happens about once a year so we should be okay for a few-" A look from Hermione made him fall silent.

Sora wasn't convinced. "How is it kept safe, exactly?" He directed his question at all three of the wizards and tried to imagine that he hadn't seen that gigantic tentacle shoot out of the lake just a few moments ago.

"Giant squid," Harry put in helpfully, noticing what his attentions had briefly been diverted to. "Don't worry, he's nice."

"Uh huh. Looked about as nice as Darkside to me, but whatever you say..."

"_Anyways," _Hermione ground out, obviously tiring of the banter. "It's kept safe exactly the way you'd expect it to- there are so many enchantments, traps, guards- like the Squid- woven around it that it's nearly impossible for anyone to get through."

"Any wizard, you mean," Donald spoke up gruffly, and it wasn't at all reassuring to Sora that none of their companions made a move to correct him.

~|\/|~

However ominous Hogwarts looked from the outside, on the inside, it was nothing short of magnificent. Sora was quite sure that a few of the pictures had started to move around as soon as he stopped looking at them and that the suits of armour were as alive as the ones in Beast's castle. He briefly wondered if Hogwarts had the same sort of enchantment on it as Beast's did- perhaps that was one of the protective measures?- but the idea was pushed from his mind as a stream of silvery forms began coming towards them. "What-"

Hermione looked around at his outburst and saw the silvery people. "Oh. It's alright, these are just ghosts, Sora." Sora let out a noticeable breath.

"So they're like Zero, then." Donald nodded at him, and Sora could tell that the ghosts creeped him out as well. He saw Harry's eyebrow quirk as the other boy turned around, and anticipated the question.

"Halloween Town, you probably wouldn't know it, but there're lots of ghosts there. Zero's Jack's dog." Ron's interest, in particular, seemed caught.

"You mean they have an _entire town _for-"

"Ron! Here comes Professor McGonagall, be quiet!" Hermione hissed, cutting him off, and Sora threw the other boy a sympathetic look. He'd been in that position more than once.

They had by now merged with the many other clumps of students filing into the hall, all of whom were paying rapt attention to a thin, grey-haired lady who had just arrived. She didn't seem intent on addressing the group at large, however, merely waving them on impatiently and calling "Move along! Into the Great Hall with you, let's not block up the entranceway, please..." The group began shuffling forward again, but Hermione pulled the five of them off to the side.

"'Mione, what-"

She gave a stern look to her two friends. "Don't you think that, if the Professor isn't in here to make an announcement to the student body itself, she just might want to talk to _us, _and Goofy, Donald and Sora in particular?"

Donald rubbed his chin. "Your friends back at that, uh... house must have told someone around here about us by now, right?" Sora chuckled at Donald's halting description of the Weasley household.

"Oh, I'm sure they have. If McGonagall doesn't want to talk to you about the Sorting, she probably is gonna take you to see Dumbledore." Sora was about to ask what the heck a Sorting was when the topic of their conversation made her entrance.

"I assume you three are Messrs. Donald, Goofy, and Sora?" She peered down tiny circular glasses at the said trio, who nodded politely. Sora stepped forward.

"Yup, I'm Sora." He introduced Donald and Goofy, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione fidgeted next to them.

The professor glanced around, eyeing a few stragglers and barking out a sharp, "Enough dawdling, students, into the Hall!" Said students complied fairly quickly, and McGonagall turned back to the six of them.

"Now, I understand that the three of you are roughly the age of the fifth years here, but for convenience's sake, we'll put you in sixth year, with your newly found friends here." She flashed a rare smile at the young wizards-and-witch. Sora could see that Donald was about to protest the assumption that he was the same age as Sora, and silenced him with a hand gesture. McGonagall pressed on.

"However, that still leaves the problem of the Sorting." Goofy interrupted before she could continue.

"'Scuse me, ma'am, but nobody's really explained to us what a, uh, _sorting _is, yet." The dog-turned-human shuffled from one foot to the other, his big brown eyes fixed on the lady's face.

"Of course, my apologies, Mr. Goofy." She adjusted her glasses with one hand. "The Sorting is a method by which we decide which house you will be placed in." She obviously got that there still was little comprehension between the three newcomers and her. "Oh, houses. Ah, you see, a house is almost like... a team, a family team that you live with for the duration of your stay here." Sora's face brightened.

"We get _teams? _That's so cool! Which one's the best one? I betcha I'll get put on the best one." He flashed a grin around, completely sincere in his words. Beside him, Donald slapped his forehead.

"Mr. Sora, I think you may have misunderstood me. The Houses do compete against each other, but they are equal parts of one whole, at least in theory." She sniffed slightly. Sora heard Harry snort.

"Unless you count Slytherin."

"Mr. Potter, now's not the time." But the old lady's lip was quirked at Harry, and Sora doubted she really meant it.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?"

"Oh, nothing," said Ron, "unless you count the fact that they're a bunch of backstabbing, slimy traitors and gits-"

Sora flinched at his words, not really surprised when Goofy caught on. "Don't worry about it, Sora." He shook his head.

"I doubt they're really as bad as you think." The four witches and wizards looked at him in slight confusion, but the Professor cleared the moment with a business-like toss of her head.

"Mr. Potter, you, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger go ahead into the Hall. Mr. Sora and his companions shall entre with the first years." She placed a hand on his shoulder, and surprisingly, Sora didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

~|\/|~

At first, the whole concept had seemed quite entertaining. Sora was no stranger to talking clothes, but the fact that _this _one could read minds? That was something new.

However, as the Sorting dragged on, and the line of tiny witches and wizards shrank entirely too slowly, he found himself losing interest rapidly. This Professor Dumbledore person had evidently decided to save the three of them for last in the Sorting, and they lounged at the back of the group for quite some time, examining every inch of the Great Hall. Sora heard whispers, probably about him, as the line moved forward, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The lady professor had said that Dumbledore was going to explain everything to the students here, so they could just be patient.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, there were no other First Years left. Not quite sure what to do, the three of them stood rather awkwardly off to the side as a very old man with very long hair approached the owl podium at the head of the Hall. He pressed one of the sticks- wands, Sora reminded himself- to his throat, and cleared it.

"Now that we are all happily Sorted," the old man, who had to be Dumbledore, began, "I would like to make a few announcements." The buzzing that had filled the Hall in the past quarter-hour died down.

"You may have noticed the presence of three new faces, faces which are not quite as young as our First Years." Sora saw a boy at the table closest to him pull a face of his own, a rather sarcastic looking one, at that.

"Gentlemen, if you would...?" He started as Donald yanked his elbow, realizing that the Headmaster had been addressing the three of them. A few people around the Hall evidently recognized them, for whispers started right up again as soon as they were visible near the Headmaster.

"Now, as you are probably all aware, there was an incident on the train this afternoon, an incident these three gentlemen were a part of. Do not think for an instant that anything was done by these young men to cause the incident- they just happened to know how to properly handle it, and be there at the right time." Sora struggled not to say anything- the guilt he felt right at that moment was crushing.

"All that needs to be said for now is this: for too long, we have relied on the idea that Lord Voldemort is the only one that can do our world any harm." The room was deathly silent, and as Sora exchanged a glance with Donald and Donald with Goofy, he knew the three of them had silently resolved to find out more about this man. "We are not in any danger at the present time. However, if there ever comes a time when we _are _in danger of something other than what we already know and fight, it is my understanding that these three young men will be here to assisst us." He stepped back. "Would you perhaps like to introduce yourselves?"

Sora shifted uncomfortably, but complied, stepping around the podium and forward.

"Alright, well... everything your princi- uh, Headmaster here said is just about right on the mark... so, yeah. My name's Sora, and I guess you can just think of us as exchange students for the year, right guys?" Donald and Goofy nodded. "And, to my left, this is Donald..." he thought quickly- Goofy was sure to be an unheard of name around here, "...and this is George." Thankfully, his two companions went with it. "So, um, I guess we get sorted or whatever now?" Public speaking was not his strong point, Sora decided. Luckily, McGonagall came to his rescue.

"Yes, that's correct. Now, Mr.... Duck?" Sora's eye's widened at the uncertain-sounding command- or he thought that was what it was- and he dropped to the ground, hands over his head.

The Hall fairly shook with laughter.

~|\/|~

_"Poor kid... a dork."_

_"Don't act like...ion."_

_"We seem to be arr... ster, I wonder why...?"_

_"That means it's only... the traitor's turn."_

_"And then, we shall see..."_

~|\/|~

YUS. As a reward for being such a patient audience, I gave you all more clucks for your bucks, as it were. In case none of you picked up on that reference, means I extended the chapter~ Holy hell, a whopping 5.5K, I really like to follow up on lateness by spoiling you 3

SO. By now I'm sure you can guess roughly what I'm about to say here, but I'll say it anyway! R-E-V-I-E-W-S! WRITING THEM KEEPS NUTSO FROM BEING A HOT MESS!... or something. I failed cheerleading club, can you tell?

~The Bad Nut


	8. No Danger

-hides-

~|\/|~

To say Sora was nervous would be an understatement.

When Miss McGonagall (his brain refused to translate from normal school terms) had explained the Sorting and the Houses to him, he'd taken it for granted that Goofy, Donald and he would be in the same group.

Apparently, that ratty old hat disagreed.

He had gotten a small amount of worry when Donald was Sorted into Ravenclaw first- it would have been nice if they were in the same House as Harry and Ron and Hermione, he thought, but he hadn't gotten too worked up over it. Then Goofy was Sorted into Hufflepuff- something to do with his fierce loyalty or something, the other boy had muttered as he shuffled past.

Now, Sora was sitting on the stool, obviously the very last to be Sorted, the entire hall fixated on him. He forced a grin. _Just be brave, it'll be okay..._

_Ahh, channelling a Gryffindor from the very start, are we?_

Sora jumped and nearly fell off the stool. Of course, he had known the hat had to be sentient _somehow _in order to make these important decisions, as well as to sing the funny song it had, but he hadn't expected it to...

_Yes, I suppose you could call it telepathy... but let's not waste time with the mechanics of my head; yours is what we're interested, yes?_

Sora nodded, wondering if the hat could feel as he did so.

_Alright, then let's have a look... _He got the distinct sensation of being invaded and probed; it wasn't necessarily _painful, _just uncomfortable.

_Well, well. You've certainly participated in your fair share of heroic adventures, haven't you? _If the Hat was surprised to see all the places he'd been and things he'd done, it didn't show it. _And I suppose, if your memories are currently working properly- _Sora winced at the vague reference to the incident at Castle Oblivion-_ your strength of heart can't be disputed... a Keybearer, hmm? I know quite a lot, but I can't say I've come across that term before..._

Sora started at this."Re- " He caught himself before he spoke to the silent Hall, blushing slightly. _Uh... really? See, I've kinda been wondering at this world... no one else has really been surprised to see us or what we can do so far._

_I see... well, I am fairly certain that _this _world is under the impression that it is the _only _world. Of course, I'm merely a hat, so what do I know?_

The brunette grimaced. _Maybe we could just get this over with?_

_Certainly. If I may just examine this one last 'corner', perhaps-_

Sora cried out as his head was suddenly filled with angry shouting. He barely registered as Dumbledore and McGonagall moved towards him, or as the Hall erupted in hushed discussion.

_"Sora? Sora? Who's in here? SORA! There's an intruder in our mind- who are you?!? Get OUT! Get out of Sora's mind, what the hell do you think you're doing-"_

"Ro- " Again, he caught himself, pressing his fingers to his forehead. _Roxas! Stop, it's okay, I let him- it in! It's just trying to-_

_"It's been looking through your memories Sora! Why would you let anyone do such a thing?!? You know- " _His head was filled with images of angry blue eyes and a mouth much like his own twisted into a snarl.

"S-someone take it off!" he forced out, cringing. "He doesn't like it- _owww..._" The wizard and witch before him hesitated, but Goofy was much quicker, springing forward and removing the hat. Immediately, Roxas quieted down.

_"Don't let anyone do that to you again... "_

He rubbed his eyes, blinking at the Headmaster of Hogwarts apologetically. "S-sorry... I don't think my magic liked the Hat."

"That's quite alright, Sora, we should have expected that not everything would run smoothly," McGonagall said, not unkindly, as Dumbledore nodded and addressed the chattering Hall.

"Students! Please, calm down, this was an unfortunate mishap, but no one was hurt, which is of course what counts the most." He tilted his head at the Hat. "Had you reached a decision of any sort before...?"

The Hat cleared its nonexistant throat, Roxas grumbling in the back of Sora's mind. "I believe the young man would be best off in GRYFFINDOR!"

The red-and-gold table cheered, half uncertainly, and Sora smiled gratefully at Goofy. "Thanks; we'll figure it out later," he murmured, then headed off to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione, ignoring the suspicious looks he was getting.

~|\/|~

Harry groaned, stretching out as far as he could as he and his housemates made to leave the house table. The start-of-the-year feast seemed to get more and more magnificent each year; he made a mental note to compliment the house-elves on that when he next had the chance (as well as perhaps sneaking a few pastries.)

Right now, however, there were more important matters to discuss with his friends than the state of the return feast. Ron beat him to it, reaching around Hermione to poke Sora in the shoulder.

"So, er... what exactly was that, up there with the hat?" the redhead asked. Harry noticed that Ron seemed a bit nervous.

There was, of course, no need to be. Sora grinned sheepishly, scratching in between his brown spikes. "You remember on the train, when I told you _I _have a nobody too, right?"

Comprehension dawned on Hermione's face immediately, while Ron took a moment or two longer. Harry nodded at Sora. "I'm guessing he didn't like the hat?"

Sora shook his head fervently. "That isn't, er... bad news, is it?" He shot a sideways glance at Hermione. She hesitated a moment before speaking up.

"It's not exactly... horrible news. Not even _really _bad, even. But, it's odd for someone's brain to reject the Hat like that; I don't think all of our fellow students will be quite as understanding as we are." She didn't need to elaborate on what she meant. Even some of their fellow Gryffindors were giving the group questioning glances.

Harry scowled slightly. "Well, you know we don't exactly run 'round with the brightest group of witches and wizards, 'cept for Hermione, of course." Said girl blushed faintly, obviously pleased. "Besides, I think it's really great that you've got a way of protecting your mind, even if it's not _you _that does it." Harry paused, then ammended his statement, feeling slightly foolish. "Er, except that it technically _is _you, so... right."

Sora laughed, waving his hand. "Don't feel dumb, I can still hardly wrap my head around the fact that Roxas is half of me and I'm half of him."

Hermione perked up. _"Roxas? _That's his name?" Sora regarded her with some confusion.

"Yeah? What about it?" She looked slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, nothing, just... that's almost an anagram of _your _name, isn't it?"

Sora paused, thinking it over.

"...you know what, I think you're right. My name plus an X. I wonder if they're all like that...?"

~|\/|~

_"...ha, took the little... it out, eh?"_

_"Don't... to him, L... you realized that either."_

_"I thought everyone knew that."_

_"Haha! Xa.... party in here!"_

_"Shut it, you're.... Axel."_

_"G... say his name, it... feel sick."_

_"That's no... ice."_

_"Whoever said we were nice?"_

~|\/|~

Ron blinked. "By 'they,' you mean the, erm... Organization, right?" Sora nodded. "Why would they?"

In response, the brunette merely shrugged. "I dunno, I was never sure how they got their new names in the first place." He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking back. "Xemnas's works, if you figure that he was using Ansem's original name and not his own... Xigbar was Braig... Xaldin, Dilan; Vexen, Even... wow, I can't believe we never noticed that before."

Harry snorted. _"I _can. I mean, Hermione recently translated Voldemort from whichever language it's in-"

"French," Hermione interjected, rolling her eyes. Harry nodded.

"Yeah. And it turns out it's something silly and 'ominous' like Death Taker-"

_"Stealer of Death," _Hermione ground out, and Ron almost walked into a coat of armor from laughing.

"I _know. _But even though I guess it's kind of interesting, it's not like I'm _stupid _for not asking about it during any of our battles. 'Oh, excuse me, sir, but after you're done trying to fry my face, I simply _must _know how you managed to come up with such a title. Do you hail from France?'"

Sora threw his head back and howled with laughter. "Hahaha... I guess... aha... now that you put it that way..." After a moment, Ron and Harry joined him in his over-the-top gigglefits.

Hermione cast them a look that clearly expressed that _she _didn't think it was _that _funny, but was ignored. "I wonder," she said loudly, "what the significance of the letter 'x' is. Why choose that over any other letter?"

Ron managed to stifle his laughter and shrugged. "I dunno, but it's kind of a mean letter, isn't it? Maybe that's why."

"Mean letter?" Sora and Harry asked in unison. "I think you're off your rocker, Ron," Harry added mildly. Ron blushed.

"You _know _what I mean."

"Maybe because it's..." Hermione put in, groping for the right term, "...oh, what's the term Americans use... 'cool'?"

Above Ron's protests that _he _used the word 'cool' and _he _bloody well wasn't American, Sora retorted, "The Organization doesn't do stuff just because it's cool. I mean, unless we're talking about Demyx, but he wasn't one of the original six." Hermione nodded fervently, her brow furrowed into the typical 'Hermione is thinking' expression.

"I suppose I could research the origins of the letter; perhaps Professor Babbling would know..."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't think it matters much, Hermione. Not that that's going to stop you, of course." Ron snickered, and Sora looked downright offended at the idea of purposely doing research work when none was needed.

As a group, they ascended the last staircase. All three of the wizards were slightly out of breath, but Sora seemed to be in mint condition. "How do you manage it, Sora?" Harry grunted as Ron dug around in his pockets for the piece of paper that had the password to the common rooms scribbled down on it.

"I know I had it in here somewhere..."

"Oh, honestly, Ronald... _quacksalver quassia,"_ Hermione told the portrait of the fat lady. The picture nodded, its frame swinging open, and Sora resolved to commit the words to memory.

"Quacksalva quash... uh, quacksalv quashia." He shook his head, mumbling to himself, climbing gracefully into the portait hole after the others. Harry chuckled.

"C'mon, I expect you've been added to our dorm." The black-haired boy grinned, clasping Sora on the shoulder. "Let's have a good year, huh?"

~|\/|~

_"We're arriving at a faster rate, have you noticed?"_

_"Lux, are you in here?"_

_"You know... despise that shortening of my given name."_

_"'Course you do, you old coot. Hey... along with the Keybearer's new friends."_

_"Unlikely."_

_"They got your funny accent."_

_"In my opinion... the ones with the funny accents, but that's by the by."_

_"Would you all shut up? This might be..."_

_"What's so...nt about it? So the idiot redhead can't remember..."_

_"Fool. ...written down somewhere. And now he doesn't have that..."_

_"..."_

_"Do we have Assassins available?"_

_"Yes, your highness."_

_"Cut the crap, and send them."_

~|\/|~

Sora glanced around the common room, feeling worried for reasons unknown to him.

"You alright, Sor?"

The brunette blinked at the nickname. "Uh... yeah, I just feel like something bad is gonna happen."

Ron sighed, stretching. "It ain't a year at Hogwarts if something a... apocalyptic doesn't happen, mate." Sora smiled slightly at the redhead's struggle with the word, but otherwise was unmoved.

"I don't know. I feel like we forgot something. Are we safe in here? How do we know Nobodies can't get in?"

Hermione's head snapped up from her book. "They're unlikely to even be able to get in the castle, Sora, and even if they did, the common rooms are the most heavily guarded areas in Hogwarts. Those portraits don't move for anything."

"Except the password..." Sora murmured, suddenly feeling very tired. "I guess you're right. We gotta figure out how I can still keep checked in with Donald and Goofy tomorrow..." He could feel himself nodding off. The chairs near the fire were so comfortable, it seemed like beds were unnecessary.

Hermione placed a hesitant hand on his arm. Sora jumped at the contact, then grinned sheepishly. "You shouldn't worry so much, Sora," she commanded in a gentle tone. "We're safe here."

"Safe..."

~|\/|~

In my general defense, school has amped up to being off the scale. I suppose reviews are too much to ask for now that I've given this meagre offering after 5 months, eh?


End file.
